🛡️ This is the Way.
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║ ⚔️ MANDALORIAN CONTRACT BOARD ⚔️ ║
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║ Objective: Launch the story into hyperspace ║
║ Reward: Extra chapters for the crew ║
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║ 2–3 lines is enough: ║
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║ • "My theory is…" ║
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║ Thank you for backing Max Vizsla and the ║
║ rise of Mandalore. ║
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"Hiss—"
The hatch of the diplomatic reception compartment at the front of the Consular-class Republic yacht opened. Orn Free Taa came down the ramp beaming, his four lekku swaying like happy seaweed.
"Oh, Lord Vizsla—you're here! Good news, good news. Your request has been approved by Chancellor Palpatine. This is the document personally signed by the Chancellor himself—take a look: 'Before the assistance policies and designated funding support promised to Bespin have been fully delivered, the Republic Judicial Forces will not begin monitoring or restricting Bespin's export of tibanna gas.' Ha-ha!"
"Excellent. This is the Way!" Max Vizsla stepped forward and gave the Senator a huge hug. "You've done me a great service, Senator Taa—thank you, thank you!"
After the embrace, Orn Free Taa clasped one of Max's hands with both of his, puffed out his belly, and continued excitedly, "Oh, right—there's another piece of good news I need to tell you."
"Oh?" Max raised a brow. "Please, go on."
"Chancellor Palpatine, on behalf of the Galactic Senate and the Republic, formally invites you to visit Coruscant. During your visit, you may present any assistance policies or special funding support Bespin requires. The Chancellor said he will do his utmost to help Bespin break its reliance on tibanna exports and achieve a scientific, healthy economic transition!"
("Yeah… that does not sound like 'good news' to me.")
"Oh, there's that too?" Max lifted his eyebrows, playing the part of pleasantly surprised. "I'm truly honored. But this is a major matter—please allow me to discuss it with my team first before I give you and Chancellor Palpatine a formal reply."
"Of course! Of course!" Orn Free Taa nodded rapidly.
"Lord Vizsla." Aayla Secura, standing nearby, extended a hand.
"Hm?" Max withdrew his right hand from the Senator's grip—then, deliberately, offered his left to the Jedi.
Aayla Secura took Max's hand. She closed her eyes slightly, and the Force linked them together with an intimate clarity.
"Your journey to Coruscant is bright. Everything will go smoothly. There is no danger at all." Aayla released his hand, smiled, and stepped up the ramp. "Lord Vizsla, Senator Taa—please wait a moment."
"By all means." // "Yes, yes."
…
A moment later, the Jedi flower stepped out of the diplomatic compartment again.
"Lord Vizsla—Master Yoda requests to meet you at the Jedi Temple. The Jedi Council will respond to your request in person during that meeting."
"Just in case—just in case," Max raised a hand, "if Master Yoda, or some other Master on the Council, decides I'm at risk of falling to the dark side… will they 'for the peace of the galaxy' just run a lightsaber through me to eliminate the threat?"
"Lord Vizsla—every Force-sensitive being—me, you, even Master Yoda—has the risk of falling to the dark side." Aayla met Max's eyes, earnest and steady. "The Jedi Temple guides Force-sensitives—guides all people—toward a brighter future. It does not erase someone's future simply because risk exists."
"Really? I don't believe you."
It wasn't just a cheap line. When Aayla said those words, the image of Mandalore—its surface turned to desert—spun and leapt in Max Vizsla's mind, uncontrollable.
"Hm… exhale… XIU—" Aayla Secura took a deep breath and ignited her lightsaber.
"Ah—!" Orn Free Taa's legs went limp and he dropped onto the floor with a thud.
"Humm—" Aayla held her blade horizontally and dropped to one knee, swearing with absolute resolve:
"Jedi Knight Aayla Secura swears by the lightsaber in my hand: I will stake my life to protect Lord Max Vizsla's safety during his visit to the Jedi Temple. May the Force be with us!"
Max made a quick gesture for the Mandalorian strike team to keep watching but not to move. Then he hurried over, helped the Senator up, and said, "The floor was just mopped—it's a bit slick. Sorry to give you a scare."
"Ha-ha—no worries, no worries. The floor really is too clean—shiny enough to see your reflection, ha-ha…" Realizing this wasn't the on-the-spot slaughter he'd feared, the worldly Senator recovered quickly.
"Ms. Secura—you're being too serious." Max walked to Aayla, lifted her up with both hands. "No matter what, I accept the debt."
Aayla Secura shook her head. She extinguished her blade and clipped it back to her belt, then said calmly, "Deeds matter more than words. Lord Vizsla—whether it's me or the Jedi Council, we will use actions during your visit to the Temple to dissolve your old prejudices against Jedi."
"Deeds over words. This is the Way." Max nodded solemnly. "Ms. Secura, I trust you—and I look forward to seeing the future you describe."
"Alright. Ms. Secura, Senator Taa—you've both traveled a long way. Let's stop here for today. I'll have you shown to your rooms to rest. Later, I'll host a banquet in the hall to welcome you and the Brightpoint Ten crew. Tomorrow, we continue."
"As you wish." // "As you command."
…
"They didn't even come to me?! What do they think I am?!" Lord Figg raged inside the hologram.
"Normal, normal. Coruscant's always been like that—bully the weak, fear the strong." Max replied. "They don't dare act up in Crown City, so they come to this backwater Bespin to push around a 'country bumpkin' like me."
Lord Figg was easy to soothe. One line of flattery, and his mood reset. Once calmed, Kilian Figg asked, "Claude—what's your read?"
"On your end, follow the contingency we already prepared: submit Bespin's petition to join the Corellian Republic as an autonomous territory to the Corellian Senate. The rest, Senator Leif Galamby will handle. On my end, I'll go to Coruscant and play along—full membership is off the table for now, but we can bring back 'Republic observer state' status first. We split up."
…
"Master Roke, I need you to forge another single-crystal lightsaber." Max said. "Use my yellow kyber crystal. As for the hilt: same exterior, material, and design as my current dual-phase saber. Keep the weight and balance point identical."
"With one crystal removed, the internal structure has to be reworked. If you still want the hilt weight and balance unchanged, we'll need to add small counterweights."
"Add them, add them—it's only for temporary use anyway. Oh, and that blue crystal—I'll leave it in your care for now."
…
PS: In Legends, Aayla Secura, back when she was still a Jedi Padawan, was once tempted into the dark side by the Dark Jedi Volfe Karkko. The Jedi Council did not abandon her.
PPS: Mandalore's history is brutal. In 738 BBY, the "Mandalorian Excision" launched by the Jedi and the Republic turned the planet's surface into desert through orbital bombardment. Near the fall of the Empire, in 4 ABY, the Empire's "Operation: Cinder" vitrified the already-desertified surface.
PPPS: "Operation: Cinder" was among the Empire's most deranged contingency plans—if Emperor Palpatine died unnaturally, the Empire would drag the galaxy down with it. The Cinder operation carried out on Mandalore is remembered by Mandalorians as the Night of a Thousand Tears.
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