CAP XTRAAAΒ Star_Knight47Β THXX
π‘οΈ This is the Way.
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β Thank you for backing Max Vizsla and the β
β rise of Mandalore. β
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"I'm sorry." Aayla Secura crossed her arms, hands resting on her opposite shoulders, lowered her gaze, and bowed her head, offering Max Vizsla a solemn apology. "Lord Vizsla, please allow me to extend my sincerest apologies to youβand to every Mandalorian who was harmed."
"As for the Mandalorian Purge over seven hundred years ago, I've only heard fragments and do not know the full story. Once this matter is settled, I will make a serious effort to study and understand it. Before then, as a Jedi Knight, it would be improper for me to offer specific commentary on that tragedy. I hope you can understand."
"But I swear here, on my honor as a Jedi: for the rest of my life, I will do everything in my power to prevent anything like that from happening again."
As she spoke, Aayla Secura looked into Max's eyes and extended her right hand.
"Lord Vizslaβplease let you and the Force witness my oath and hold me accountable. Will you?"
Impeccable rhetoric. No wonder she was one of the Jedi Temple's top negotiators. Just as Max Vizsla was about to interpret it in the most malicious way possible, his gaze met hers.
Her light reddish-brown eyes were calm as still water. What Max saw was not a trickβhe saw sincerity and earnest resolve from the Jedi Flower.
("This isn't rhetoric⦠she actually means it.") Max Vizsla froze, then hesitantly and slowly reached out his right hand.
Before Max could fully extend it, Aayla Secura moved first and clasped his hand tightly.
"Clapβclapβclap!" / "Good! Good! Good!" Orn Free Taa applauded and cheered, visibly relieved. The atmosphere moments ago had been so suffocating he could barely breathe.
"May the Force be with us," Max Vizsla said softly.
β¦
After they entered the conference room, Aayla Secura got straight to the point.
"Lord VizslaβSenator Taa and I are here on behalf of the Jedi Temple and the Galactic Senate to invite Bespin to join the Galactic Republic as a member state."
"Exactly," Orn Free Taa said with a smile, nodding along.
"And what benefits would Bespin receive by becoming a member?" Max asked with a smile toward Senator Taa, then turned back to Aayla Secura. "And if we refuseβwhat happens then?"
"Lord Vizsla, regardless of whether Bespin joins the Republic, the Republic Judicial Forces will establish an inspection station here to monitor tibanna gas circulation."
"Sorry," Max raised a hand and cut her off. "If I didn't mishear or misunderstand⦠setting up an inspection station on Bespin is already a decision Coruscant has made. You're here to inform me, not to negotiate. Correct?"
"Lord Vizslaβevery unit of tibanna gas you sell goes into Republic territory. I believe you understand that military commodities like tibanna gas, if allowed to spread unchecked, create major security risks. For the Republic, monitoring weapons entering its borders is a necessary and legitimate demand."
"In that case," Max spread his hands, "since the big shots already decided everything, why bother 'talking' to me at all?"
"Lord Vizslaβwe are here to invite Bespin to join the Galactic Republic as a member state."
"Ahβright, yes, yes," Orn Free Taa snapped back to attention and nodded rapidly.
Aayla Secura continued, "Once Bespin becomes a member state, it will be eligible for the Republic's assistance policies and dedicated funding for remote worlds. If tibanna gas sales are impacted, those policies and funds can, to a certain extent, offset Bespin's economic losses."
"So generous," Max raised an eyebrow. "Should I be thanking the two of youβand thanking the Jedi Temple and the Senate?"
"Hahahaβno, no," Orn Free Taa laughed so hard his lekku quivered. "Lord Vizsla, you're too polite. This is simply what we should do, hahaha."
"Then, Senator Taa, let me ask you something." Max scratched his head as if puzzled. "As the representative of a remote worldβRyloth joined the Republic ten thousand years ago. What assistance policies and dedicated funding has Ryloth actually received?"
In that instant, Orn Free Taa's blue face turned purple, and his four twitching lekku drooped. He stammered, "Th-thisβwellβuhβit's notβthereβthere areβ¦ s-some. Yes. There are some."
"For example?" Max gestured for him to continue.
Aayla Secura caught one of her compatriot's hands and gave it a light pat twice. When Orn Free Taa looked at her, her own lekku swayed gently as well. After calming the guilty, uneasy senator, the Jedi Flower turned to Max and said:
"Lord Vizsla: if the assistance policies and dedicated funding promised to Bespin are not delivered, then the oversight and restrictions on Bespin's tibanna gas exports will not begin. That is my promise to you."
"And your promise represents you personally⦠or the Jedi Temple⦠or the Galactic Republic?"
"Lord Vizsla, please rest assured. I am the Jedi Temple's plenipotentiary envoy. I am making this promise on behalf of the Jedi Temple."
"Then a written commitment on record is acceptable, yes?"
"As you wish. Of course."
"Ms. Securaβthank you, and thank you for the Jedi Temple's goodwill." Max nodded, then turned to Orn Free Taa. "Redundancy is reliability. Senator Taaβcan the Galactic Senate make the same promise?"
"That⦠I'll need to consult Chancellor Palpatine before I can answer."
"Be my guest." Max did not soften in the slightest, gesturing for the senator to contact him first and talk later.
"External calls may be intercepted. I'll use Brightpoint Ten's dedicated secure channel instead."
"Be my guest." Max extended his hand again in invitation.
β¦
Postscript:
The fleshy head-tails of Twi'leks are called lekku. They're highly flexibleβTwi'leks can use them to grasp or support objects, and they can also communicate in Twi'leki through lekku movements.
P.P.S.:
Typically, Twi'leks have two lekku. Orn Free Taa is differentβhe has four. Because of that, he was regarded as "chosen" and was elected by Ryloth's population as their representative senator.
Orn Free Taa isn't the kind of villain who commits every evil imaginable. He's simply corrupt. Even while being corrupt, he still makes an effort to fight for Ryloth's interestsβso long as it doesn't conflict with his own.
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