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Chapter 54 - Chapter 54: First Visit to Coruscant (IV)

Seeing the two Mandalorian warriors fully helmeted and armored, several of the Jedi who came to greet them looked momentarily taken aback. Only after Max Vizsla removed his helmet, smiled, and waved as he walked down the ramp did the Jedi react—then, led by Master Depa Billaba, they stepped forward to welcome him.

"Good morning, Lord Vizsla. The Jedi Temple welcomes your arrival."

"Good morning, Master Billaba. Sorry to have kept you waiting."

After the handshake and brief pleasantries, Max turned back and introduced Christopher Rhen to Depa Billaba:

"This is my close friend—an outstanding young man of Clan Rhen, Christopher Rhen. He has an unusually strong affinity with an ancient crossguard lightsaber from four thousand years ago. I believe he's probably Force-sensitive as well. So I brought him along today, to learn at the Jedi Temple and from all of the Masters."

"Good morning, Mr. Rhen. The Jedi Temple welcomes you."

"Good morning, Master Billaba."

After greeting Christopher Rhen, Master Depa Billaba turned and began introducing the Jedi Masters assembled in formation.

"This is Master Jocasta Nu—former member of the Jedi High Council, and Director of the Temple Library Archives."

"Good morning, Lord Vizsla. This morning, I'll be your dedicated tour guide." Master Jocasta Nu smiled, teasing lightly.

Facing such a venerable elder, Max didn't dare show the slightest disrespect. He quickly bowed, took the old Master's right hand in both of his, and said, "Good morning, Master Jocasta Nu. To receive your guidance is an honor."

Max's humble posture, paired with Jocasta Nu's playful tone, dispersed much of the tension on the spot. The atmosphere turned noticeably lighter and more cheerful.

"Hardly 'guidance,'" the elderly Jedi waved her left hand. "Just exchanging ideas—learning from each other."

"Good morning, Mr. Rhen."

"Good morning, Master Jocasta Nu."

"This is Master Coleman Trebor—member of the Council of Reconciliation, and an outstanding expert in diplomacy."

The "dinosaur" Master smiled as he stepped forward. "Good morning, Lord Vizsla."

"Good morning, Master Coleman Trebor."

This one was also a familiar face. In Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, the Jedi Master who approached Count Dooku while maintaining a Force-based concealment (masking his presence in the Force, not optical invisibility), only to die because he was too arrogant—ignoring the threat posed by the Mandalorian bounty hunter Jango Fett nearby—and catching a blaster bolt straight to the chest… was him.

"Good morning, Mr. Rhen."

"Good morning, Master Coleman Trebor."

...

"This is Master Ashka Boda—Vice Chair of the Temple Librarians' Assembly, and a highly respected Jedi scholar."

...

"Lord Vizsla, please look—on the ceremonial steps before the Temple's main entrance are two statues of Warrior Masters, and two statues of Sage Masters…"

With Master Jocasta Nu's narration, Max Vizsla's tour of the Jedi Temple began.

The lift doors opened. Master Jocasta Nu gestured with her hand. "Lord Vizsla, this is the Jedi Temple Museum. Please."

"After you." Max stepped back half a pace.

"This museum was once the ruins of an early version of the Temple. In other words—the museum itself is a major artifact."

"Oh?" Max raised a brow, putting on an exaggerated look of surprise. The foot he'd just moved forward withdrew again. "Master Nu—may I ask, do you have shoe covers here? We're wearing steel boots. I'd hate to scratch an artifact by accident."

"Hahaha—!"

Everyone laughed. Neither the Jedi nor the Mandalorians expected that the smiling, joking atmosphere between the two sides would turn, in the blink of an eye, into drawn blades and taut hostility—right here in this very museum.

"In this display case is the armor once worn by the first—and to this day, the only—Mandalorian Jedi in recorded history, Lord Vizsla! You—"

Mid-explanation, Master Jocasta Nu—who had been smiling as she turned to Max Vizsla—froze in shock at his sudden movement. After glancing at the placard beside the case, the young Mandalorian's expression changed abruptly. He put his helmet back on and started walking toward the lift.

"Ms. Secura, please send us back." Max said coldly to the Jedi flower standing in his way.

"Lord Vizsla, this is a misunderstanding, we—"

Max reached out, brushed Aayla Secura aside, and said without looking back, "If you won't, that's fine. We can return on our own."

"I'll take you back!" Aayla Secura bit down hard and chased after him. The young Jedi knew it instantly—something had gone wrong. A serious diplomatic incident.

Inside the display case were the original beskar armor once used by the Mandalorian Jedi Tarre Vizsla a thousand years ago, as well as a replica of his blade, the Darksaber. The placard beside it listed the fate of the original Darksaber—997Brs (1,032 years before the Battle of Yavin): a member of Clan Vizsla infiltrated the Jedi Temple amid the turmoil and stole the Darksaber.

...

In front of an invited guest, accusing his ancestor of being a thief who stole the Darksaber—whether for Max Vizsla personally or for Clan Vizsla—was a blatant humiliation.

"A diplomatic incident, this is. The worst one, in ten years. An official review, the Council of First Knowledge and the Council of Reconciliation must make."

Master Yoda raised his cane.

"Apologize in person, I will."

...

"Go to the Jedi Temple and invite Master Yoda to come here. Tell him I want to know exactly what happened at the Jedi Temple this morning—why our guest is so furious that he's even readying his ships to leave Coruscant."

"Yes, Chancellor."

"Wait a moment." Palpatine added with a gentle smile. "Also relay this to the Jedi Temple: given the blood feud between the Jedi Order and the Mandalorians, the Galactic Senate recommends that—until this morning's misunderstanding is resolved—the Temple side should avoid directly contacting or provoking our mutual guest any further. After Master Yoda and I speak, the Senate can act as an intermediary and visit the Mandalorians, to explain and clarify the misunderstanding for both sides."

"Yes, Chancellor."

..........................

PS: I'll explain it again—historically, Mandalorians did not have a tradition forbidding them from removing their helmets.

In the live-action series The Mandalorian, the protagonist's faction—the one with the "never remove the helmet" rule—is a splinter of Death Watch known as the Children of the Watch.

The "no helmet removal" rule used by the Children of the Watch would not appear earlier than the Clone Wars era.

PPS: The top-level leadership of the Jedi Order is not a single council, but four.

They include: the Jedi High Council (Jedi High Council), which oversees the Jedi Order; the Council of First Knowledge (Council of First Knowledge), which supervises the Jedi Academy and curriculum and maintains the Temple Archives; the Council of Reconciliation (Council of Reconciliation), responsible for matters involving the Galactic Senate and diplomatic corps, resolving interstellar diplomatic conflicts and political deadlocks; and the Council of Reassignment (Council of Reassignment), which oversees the Jedi Service Corps and its branch councils.

PPPS: In 1032BBY, the "turmoil" that Clan Vizsla exploited when stealing the blade refers to the Mandalorian–Jedi War and the Jedi–Sith War. At the time, while the Jedi Order and the Mandalorians were locked in open conflict, Sith forces once seized Coruscant.

During the Jedi–Sith struggle for Coruscant, a member of Clan Vizsla infiltrated the Jedi Temple amid the chaos and took the Darksaber forged by Tarre Vizsla. After that, the Darksaber was passed down for generations as Clan Vizsla's symbol of authority. In 42BBY, it was lost during the Mandalorian civil war.

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