"Lord Vizsla," Anakin Skywalker suddenly dropped to one knee, "if you can help me find my mother, I'm willing to leave the Jedi Order and serve you from this day forward!"
Well now.
Max's eyes lit up instantly. So this was the overwhelming aura of a transmigrator? The Chosen One dropping to one knee and pledging himself on the spot—this was the overwhelming aura of a transmigrator!
At that moment, another voice sounded in Max's head: "Isn't this just standard transmigration-story business? You are a transmigrator. This should be expected. Why are you getting so excited?"
Right. Good point.
Max steadied himself. He did not use the Force. Instead, he bent down and personally helped Anakin Skywalker back to his feet with both hands.
"Anakin, I'm glad you want to serve me!" Max said, giving Anakin's shoulder a firm slap. "But I don't like your reason for wanting to do it."
"Lord Vizsla..."
"Anakin, listen to me." Max raised a hand and cut him off. "I help you once, and one day when I need help, you help me once. That settles the debt between us. There's no need for you to sell your whole future over it. You're still young. You've got dreams of your own to chase, and your own road to walk."
In the moment Anakin had offered his allegiance, he had clearly seen the delight that flashed through Max Vizsla's eyes. And Max's gentle refusal—along with the reason for it—made Anakin feel deeply respected.
That appreciation, that respect, made Anakin warm to him all the more.
"Thank you, Lord Vizsla." Anakin bowed properly before sitting back down at Max's gesture. "If there's ever anything I can do to help you, just say the word!"
"There's no rush." Max smiled and waved it off, then called into the comm, "Send two mugs of hot blue milk over, please."
"Eat well, sleep well, and keep studying under your Master Obi-Wan," Max continued. "Think of this as a long-term investment on my part. We can talk about repayment later."
"Lord Vizsla..." Anakin hesitated for a moment, but in the end he still asked, "Why did you call Master Obi-Wan a war criminal earlier?"
"Oh, that? Just a joke." Max waved a hand again. "Master Obi-Wan Kenobi is no war criminal. The losers are the ones who get called war criminals."
"Did Master Obi-Wan fight a war against the Mandalorians?"
"Anakin," Max said, smiling with clear mischief in his eyes, "do you know who Duchess Satine Kryze's first love was?"
"I don't." Anakin instinctively glanced toward the hatch. "Wait... no way."
"Thirteen years ago, with the backing and encouragement of the Jedi Order and the Galactic Republic, the New Mandalorians launched a full-scale civil war against the other Mandalorian factions. At the time, Master Obi-Wan Kenobi was Duchess Satine's personal bodyguard."
"That can't be right." Excited as he was by gossip about his master, Anakin still found it hard to believe. "Do you have proof?"
Max jerked his chin toward the hatch. "Ask Master Obi-Wan Kenobi yourself in a little while, and you'll find out whether it's true."
"But... the Jedi Code teaches Jedi to avoid strong emotion."
"Hardly a rare exception. Master Ki-Adi-Mundi of the Jedi High Council gets to have five wives. What's so strange about your master having a romance?"
"That's not really fair, is it?" Anakin had clearly heard the stories about Ki-Adi-Mundi as well. "The Cereans have an extremely low birthrate. Their people are on the verge of extinction. Master Ki-Adi-Mundi had to marry and have children to help preserve his species."
"Couldn't he just donate genetic material?" Max asked, staring at Anakin. "Why go all the way to marriage and family life?"
"This..."
For a moment, Anakin had no answer.
Max pressed on.
"People always say the Jedi blindly obey the corrupt Galactic Senate and in doing so betray the Republic they claim to serve. That criticism isn't entirely fair. The truth is, the Jedi Order itself has serious problems too."
...
Later that same day, Obi-Wan came looking for Max with a dark expression on his face. And when, outside the training room, he saw two Mandalorians sparring with an authentic Form IV Ataru routine, his face darkened even further.
"Lord Vizsla," Obi-Wan said, intercepting Max after the lightsaber session ended, "why did you say those things to the boy?"
"Oh?" Max asked while toweling off sweat. "Did I say something wrong?"
At that, Obi-Wan's expression shifted through several shades. After forcing his emotions back under control, he finally gritted out a rebuke, saying Max should never have told Anakin that sort of gossip.
"But wasn't everything I said true?" Max turned and fixed Obi-Wan with a hard stare. "The Jedi are allowed to do it, but I'm not allowed to say it?"
"But Anakin is still young. He isn't ready for that kind of information. What you told him could lead him down the wrong path."
"What could lead Anakin down the wrong path—my words? Hmph." Max was openly disdainful. "Are you sure it isn't the shining example set by his Jedi elders?"
"You're holding a gemstone under a magnifier to hunt for flaws. A few tiny imperfections don't diminish the brilliance of the jewel."
"A few tiny imperfections?" Max let out a laugh, though it looked worse than a grimace. "Fine. Let's pretend you sleeping with Satine was just 'a few tiny imperfections.' But while you were in bed with her, did you ever once look out the window? Did you ever look at the deserts of Mandalore? Are you really going to tell me that indiscriminate orbital bombardment—an extermination campaign against the Mandalorians—was also just 'a few tiny imperfections'?"
Obi-Wan fell silent.
The truth was, if the Jedi High Council had not issued a public apology in its New Year address in Year 5 for the Order's role in the humanitarian catastrophe known as the Mandalorian Excision, Obi-Wan might never even have known that the Jedi Order had such a black stain in its history.
"Only through the sacrifice of many Jedi can the Order wash away its sins against the people of the galaxy."
Once again, the prophecy his master had once shared with him echoed through Obi-Wan's mind.
"Let's talk a little more about those 'tiny imperfections' of yours," Max continued. "The Jedi Code teaches Jedi to keep their distance from strong emotions. Fine. After Satine, you never took another lover. That, at least, fits the code. But what about Duchess Satine? After you, she never took another man either. Do you think that's normal?"
"This..."
"It isn't normal!" Obi-Wan opened his mouth, only to be cut off again. "For Duchess Satine, refusing political marriages means defying enormous pressure from every direction. Who do you think she did that for? Her heart is still full of you!"
Obi-Wan's heart was in turmoil.
"If you've truly let go, then you should go to Duchess Satine and speak with her openly. You should tell her to let go as well. Master Obi-Wan Kenobi—running from it solves nothing. All it does is hurt a woman who loves you deeply and has been waiting for you all this time."
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STAR WARS: THE RISE OF MANDALORE
🛡️🔥 STAR WARS: THE RISE OF MANDALORE 🔥🛡️
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