Chapter 28: Battle of Words

Rey had a sour taste in her mouth and had to resist looking disgusted by this man. Lucky Emi seemed unfazed and said, “Thank you for your willingness to help our cause. Word of your great skill has reached the farthest edges of the Galaxy.” After buttering the man, she added, “I believe Sir Primidian should have prepared all the materials.”

Janus seemed pleased by her honeyed words but then grew disheartened, “Of course, of course.” His eyes grew pained as he said, “Those speeches are just so dull, so forthright and honest.” Appearing like a dog that was thinking of meat, he proposed, “The Lady is the one doing the talking. We could make some executive edits. Even the Emperor trusted my skill as a director. I'm thinking of something more political.” His eyes grew impassioned as he went on, “I have some enemies amongst those First Order bastards. With your testimony, we could destroy them.”

This sounded interesting to the Jedi, who couldn't help but ask, “What sort of testimony.”

Janus waved his hand dismissively at this, “Whatever, you can just make something up.” He appeared even more excited and added, “I'll make sure the whole Galaxy believes you.”

The small trace of hope Rey had that this man wasn't a total slimeball was extinguished instantly. Almost as though her aid could use the force and feel her anger, Emi spoke up quickly to manage the situation. “Thank you for the generous offer, but we wouldn't dare make such daring moves without consulting the Admiral.”

The golden-robed man let out a sigh as his excitement drained from him. In a moment, he recovered and became chipper again, “Of course. Good old Primidian always has a tight-knit plan, that one.” As though trying to lighten the mood, he added in a humorous voice, “If we messed up his big scheme, even I would have a hard time getting away with my head attached.

Emi nodded respectfully and responded, “Thank you for your understanding.”

Rey’s mouth felt dry, and she wanted to smack this man, but she hid her irritation and disgust well. As expected, she reached out with the Force to inspect the man and found a dark and oily mass of blackness about him. It was a mixture of the evil from his own rotten and a lingering shadow of Palpatine that Rey had become familiar with after arriving on Coruscant. This Janus was a terrible, opportunistic pile of garbage through and through, but she was not in a position to refuse the Admiral's instructions. In a voice full of forced politeness, she asked, “I'd like to get started as soon as possible. Then, with a hint of force added, “I'm very busy.”

This display knocked the man back to his growling as he rubbed his hands together, “Of course, of course. How silly of me to waste the ladies' time.” He gestured to a door that led to the sound box, “If the Lady would enter, we can begin immediately.”

Rey nodded, swiftly entered the booth, and stood at the microphone, at which point she realized she had no idea what she was doing. She coughed into a hand and called at the glass wall, “What am I doing exactly?”

Emi shook her head and gestured to her ears to signify the room the Jedi was in was soundproof. Janus scampered to his desk, and many holographic screens appeared. He activated some controls and put in an earpiece before speaking. His words were projected into the booth via speakers, “A thousand apologies, I got ahead of myself. This is only the ladies' second time in my office…” Then, with a playful smile, he added, “And we can hardly count the first time, can we.”

Rey was shocked to hear this and tried to wrap her head around it. It occurred to her that the only answer should be that her parents had come here while she was still a baby. They were political individuals, a prince, and a princess, in fact. Just as she was about to inquire about this remark, Janus continued, “Now then, let's get started.”

Suddenly, the wall of mirrors in front of her became covered by the video of a polite-looking woman. She was dressed in a revealing crimson dress and had a face that was slightly too perfect in Rey’s opinion. She smiled and began to speak, “Welcome to the Recording Studio of the Great Liam Janus…”

The Jedi knew she was in for a torturous experience and proceeded to endure half an hour of this recorded model telling her how to use the microphone, how to read from a teleprompter, how to speak with confidence, how to hold herself, and so on. Once this was over, Janus spoke up, “Not bad, right, that was last year, Ms. Curasuant. It wasn't easy to hire her. Anyways, ready to begin.”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Rey had to resist clenching her fists and cursing at this man. She tried to imagine that Fama was in the room and had to maintain her image as a respectable Jedi Master. She let out a sigh and nodded, “I might not be very good, but I'll try my best.”

Janus smiled at this, responding happily, “Good, let's get you ready.”

He pressed a button, and several droids entered the sound booth from a maintenance hatch. They surrounded her and attacked at once. One began neatening her robe and spraying it with dyes. Another moved to her hair, spraying it with water and then tugging on it with a brush. The last went to her face and began to apply makeup. Rey coughed at this, trying to pull away, and called, “What is this?”

Janus responded merrily, “Just a few touch-ups. It'll take too long to change your outfit for each shoot. Once I get a good couple of shots, I can make the necessary changes digitally. Let the droids do their thing, then perform the poses on the wall. We'll be doing this seven times.”

Rey felt a bit of dread appear in her heart and looked at Emi. The aid had taken a seat and appeared to be staring off blankly. With no hope of rescue, the Jedi resigned herself to being beautified.

Seven rob colors, hairstyles, and makeup arrangements later Rey felt dead. It had been over an hour, and she hadn't even started on the speeches. So far, she had just had droids working on her appearance or posing for the camera. She had performed more than three dozen different bows over a hundred other gestures that signified respect. She had waved her hand around with a passionate expression, clenched her hands into fists, and made countless gestures to an invisible audience. Almost every time she moved, Janus shouted, “No, no, no. That's wrong, wrong, I say. You must truly believe. No one cares about what you say. It's how you say it that matters. How you convey yourself. What separates you from the nobodies is Presentation. Now again!” Then, eventually, he would sigh and call, “That's enough. I'll edit the rest.”

What really irritated her was his constant remarks comparing her to her grandfather. He would groan, “Carry yourself with confidence, girl. The Emperor was always confident.” Or grumble, “Your grandfather never took so long.” And even shout, “Lord Palpatine must be turning over in his grave.”

Eventually, one could see the veins protruding on Rey's forehead as she tried to suppress her anger. She kept telling herself this was just another form of training, but her patients were wearing thin. At this point, they hadn't even started the actual speeches, and the Jedi knew she was going to be here for a very long time.

As they moved on to the audio recordings, Janus remarked grumpily, “What a waste of a girl, just like her father.”

At this point, something inside Rey snapped, and she shouted, “Keep mouthing off, and I'll give you a real reason to complain.”

The man looked absolutely terrified, terrified down to her very bones. He squeaked out in a high-pitched voice, “Of course, of course. A thousand apologies, my Lady. It was stupid of me.”

Rey was a little pleased by this but then realized the man had shown the same expression before Palpatine. He was not scared of her per se but rather still haunted by the ghost of the Emperor. She felt a twinge of guilt and shame at this, as even though Janus was a slime bucket, he was still a person and didn't deserve to have his fears prayed upon. The Jedi sighed and added, “Don't worry about it. Let's continue.”

She was done acting, and now it was time for the battle of words to begin. It would be a fight between her and all those who still clung to past grudges and were willing to pay any price to settle them. Rey did not want to see the Galaxy crumble into civil war. We did not want to see people slaughter each other any longer. She wanted everyone to live in harmony, where conflicts were resolved through diplomacy, not violence. The Admiral's methods were indeed unmentionable; he would lie, manipulate, and scheme, but if these few sins could bring peace, Rey was willing to commit them.

These speeches would also be her personal introduction to the Galaxy. She would no longer be a myth or a legend. She would be a person open to public scrutiny. Once she took this step, the consequences it would bring could not be avoided. As to what those consequences might be, she did not know.

Looking at the teleprompter, she read over the first script and frowned. It was her first apology to the ex-imperials regarding her actions during the war. Rey knew undoubtedly she would also be eventually denying the rebirth of the Emperor and saying the First Order was a work of Snoke and later the renegade Kylo Ren. This would complete two of her promises to the Admiral and get her one step closer to reviving the Jedi Order.

The Jedi Master couldn't help but think about her friend and student, Poe. He would likely hate her for what she was about to do. Rey had hoped to explain to him ahead of time, but instead, they had fought and ended up on opposite sides of the battlefield. The Jedi thought deeply, then let out a sigh. She believed in her cause just as much as he believed in his. Poe had been willing to turn away from her for his beliefs, and she was willing to infuriate him. In the end, she could only hope their friendship would be strong enough to survive the animosity that was about to be born between them.

Rey let out a breath, her expression becoming serious as she thought to herself, “I hate politics.”