-- Author's note -- As a special thank you for supporting me and reaching the 10 chapters milestone, I released an extra long chapter for today! --
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As tensions are rising all over the universe, it is necessary for Kew'ilaä to plan for the future. The last couple of years there have been conflicts in ideology in the Jedi order. This has led to the suppression of Jedi that are trying to explore the so-called dark side of the force. For now it has only resulted in minor injuries on both sides and sparked debates that resulted in the ban on dark side force abilities.
But as a wise person once said: "Prohibition only drives drunkenness behind doors and into dark places, and does not cure it or even diminish it.". As long as it is not solved at the root, it will only fester until it becomes a plague that cannot be stopped.
As the future looks bleaker by the minute, we will follow our protagonist Kew'ilaä on his path that will either remedy the situation or make it worse...
(Kew'ilaä's POV): Recent years have been rough, the incident changed something in me and I noticed that I became more withdrawn and calculative. I still pretended to be the bright and positive Jedi knight as I have done during the academy years.
Last year I unlocked a force vision from my brother Jaraen that passed away. He showed me his home planet and made me promise him that I will take his bracelet to his family back on a planet called Dathomir. When I wanted to explore further, I felt an ancient power that originated from a far away place. I will look into it when I visit his family, but that will have to wait as I have little to no freedom.
For now, I am glad that the promotion to master rank is getting closer for both me and my sister as I missed her dearly. According to master Shan and Elyra, I needed to complete this final mission that is to broker a peace between the Hutts and the Republic. *Sigh* This is going to be a tough one as the Hutts are a warrior like species that are all about conquering the universe and the Republic are just a bunch of corrupt officials that want to fill their pockets.
As we were on our way to the Hutts controlled space, I was approached by the two masters. They told me that we needed to be careful, but we could not show any weakness in front of the Hutts. I asked them the details of the mission and what the requirements were from the Republic. The masters told me not to worry about these minor details and that they would handle them. I felt uneasy about the vagueness of their responses.
Unfortunately, I used too much of my powers that time that I rewrote their memories about my now companions Xalae and Xilon. Although they are not here right now, I sent them on a mission to establish themselves as mercenaries and take low profile jobs. But by overusing my force ability I had to wait for it to be recharged. I do not know the exact time it will be available, but for now it feels like it might take at least three years.
(Master Elyra's POV): We are finally able to end our supervision of young Kew'ilaä after this mission. We need to make sure that there are no distractions or interruptions. The mission states that the objective is to broker an alliance with the Hutts to secure their vast resources for his growing influence in the galaxy. If we made contact with the Hutts and possible other native species and invite them to the republic by any means necessary, it would serve as the ideal transit point for our transport routes.
We will keep the details to ourselves to prevent young Kew'ilaä from understanding the order's real intentions and keep him focused on the task at hand. He is a skilled diplomat and an excellent combatant even with the suppressing armour. We deemed him trustworthy for now, but he needed to be handled with care to prevent any incidents from happening as it did five years ago. Over the years we became more confident that we will be able to subdue young Kew'ilaä, if required.
As regular masters we are not aware of the exact details surrounding the incident, but it was classified information and only the most severe cases or cover ups fall in this category. It would be best for us to just finish the assignment. The only strange thing is that our order switched from subduing the young one, if necessary, to eliminating him. It felt like the order was afraid of his force abilities and his bright mind, but I could not understand why they would be wary of one of our brightest and caring young Jedi knights.
I always thought that he will lead us to a brighter future and will help us solve the division in the order. The order has changed a lot over the years and it seems like the clash of ideologies only intensifies, because no one is willing to listen to one another.
*Keep it up Elyra, we only need to do one more mission*
(Kew'ilaä's POV): As we landed on Varl Prime, the home planet of the Hutts that is located in the Outer Rim Territories of the galaxy and is orbited by three moons, we were greeted by a group of mercenaries. They were all tall, broad and heavily armoured, equipped with the latest blasters and throwable bombs. Those were the things that were visible, I can imagine that they have a lot more other trinkets up their sleeves.
As the mercs approached, I noticed a barely noticeable shift in the force and emotions surrounding them. It felt like they recognised one of us, but they quickly recovered. Hmm. strange, I guess the masters have another secret that they kept from the order. I smiled knowing that everyone is keeping secrets.
The leader of the mercs told us that the Hutts were expecting us and we needed to follow them to the palace to meet the rulers. What surprised me was the sheer amount of wealth that was on display, the palace itself was okay but the golden statues of the Hutt leaders. There are statues going back from the first Hutt that founded their rule all the way to the current ruler and believe me when I tell you there have been quite a few generations.
Ever since we arrived on the planet, I noticed that both masters were acting differently from their usual selves. One was trying to elude me and find any excuse to avoid my presence, while the other was sticking to me like glue. But the strangest request came, the evening before we were supposed to meet the Hutts. Master Shan requested that he take the ship and secure an escape route just in case. Master Elyra seemed troubled, but agreed. I was in no position to tell him otherwise, as it was more of a demand than a request.
After he left, we went to prepare ourselves for the upcoming meeting with the Hutts. As I said earlier I used my shapeshifting ability in one of our bathrooms to learn all about their abilities and language. Now that I am fluent in their language, I feel more confident in negotiating a proper deal and I might be able to squeeze in a side deal for myself. *smirks*
The proposed meeting time was upon us and we left for the meeting under the escort of the group of mercenaries. The room was filled with a number of Hutts with Nalla the Hutt at the head of the organisation. She is known for being ruthless, impatient and very glutenous. So I knew it was going to be a tough negotiation.
We started off with general introductions and some general trade agreements between the republic and the Hutts organisation. For now the communication was via a translator, so it was slow but steady. Suddenly master Elyra asked to have a word alone with the leader of the Hutts. After coming in contact with various species, I was able to grasp countless abilities including the ability to focus my ears to the point of hearing the sound of a pin dropping. She requested that the Hutts join the republic. This felt off as we never discussed the notion of the Hutts joining the republic. I contemplated whether this was a scheme by the order or republic, probably both. One thing that I knew for sure is that this was a calculated move.
Now I knew why she was nervous ever since we arrived at Varl Prime, the master could have let me in on it as I would have been able to include it as part of a trade deal. But then again, why would I make my potential enemies more powerful.
To my surprise, I heard a commotion on the other side of the door. As I was in my thoughts, I forgot to pay attention to the discussion between the Hutts and master Elyra, but it seemed like it was not going well. Then I saw master Elyra bursting through the doors and telling me that we needed to escape. *Shit* she apparently messed up big time and we needed to get out of here as soon as possible.
As we fought our way outside, I noticed that the mercenaries were not aiming for our lives but were using shots that scrapped master Elyra and all the shots missed me. It seemed like they did it on purpose.. Luckily for me the side deal they had with one of the masters worked out in my favour, so I should thank them for it.
I mostly used the force to keep them at bay and knocked them out if the enemies got closer. My goal is still to get the Hutts on my side and ally them against the republic and the jedi order, if necessary. The vibe changed as we got close to the hanger where we landed. The sky turned dark and it looked like a shadow like hands were coming down and it preyed on anything it could get its hands on. I saw several Hutts being picked up and screaming for their lives. Then I heard Nalla the Hutt frightened whisper *Kay....foun....do Ka...pa..*, which translates to hungry hands.
Shit we go from one problem to the next, okay I got to think fast and not only save myself but also my future allies. As I was thinking, I saw master Elyra being grabbed by one of the hands and screaming for my help. Shortly afterwards she lost consciousness. This was my chance, I drew upon the force and established a connection with the predator. I made it change his course and leave the prey (basically us) alone. As it understood its assignment it quickly went back into space, I knew that this would only be a temporary solution as it would come back in a day or two.
I noticed that master Shan was nowhere to be seen, which was to be expected. He probably escaped on his own and left us for death. I will have a bone to pick with him, when I see him at the temple. But let's just focus on our current predicament. I spoke to the Hutts in their native language and told them of what happened and warned them that the predator will be back in a day or two. I asked them if they had another planet or system that the Hutts could use as a refuge. They nodded and thanked me for my warning; however, this would not solve the initial problem of master Elyra trying to coerce them into joining the republic.
*Sigh* I explained that the actions taken by master Elyra were not inline with what she discussed with me and that it was probably ordered by the Jedi council and/or the republic. I apologised for their actions and told them that we could make a separate deal on our own next to some trade agreements with the republic. They looked at me as if I was stupid and asked why they would need trade agreements with the party that tried to use force to get them to join them. I explained that both parties will benefit and that they will have less cause to outright attack them. Next, I explained my plans to them and told them that the representatives of my own companies will come at a later date to negotiate the finer details. We reached an initial agreement as saving them contributed a lot to their willingness to work together.
With master Elyra still out of commission and master Shan being absent, I received one of the Hutts spaceships to go back to in order to report on our mission. But before we were able to take of we were stopped by the mercenaries....
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