Chapter 52: The Arena
Fama sat up at this, contemplating her Master's words, and nodded, “I think I get it.”
Rey laughed at the girl's firm expression, which was extraordinarily rare, though he was very pleased to see the girl take the subject seriously. She hugged the girl's shoulders and responded, “We can discuss it more tonight.” Pulling away and meeting the girl's eye and adding, “Try and remember what you can and write it down. I'll see if I can make sense of any of it.”
The padawan nodded quickly and hugged her Master tightly, “Thank you, Master, I will.”
The Jedi felt a twinge of deep emotion inside her heart, but rather than happy, this made her worried. A Jedi could be compassionate but could not form attachment. Rey adored her Padawan and did her best to train the girls properly, though from time to time, her feelings became confusing. Rather than viewing the girl as a student, she would reward her like a sister or even daughter. Rey feared she would become emotionally compromised and lead the girl down the wrong path. The warmth inside her was extinguished by this fear, and she patted the girl's head ruffly, “Good, we’ll make a Jedi of you yet.”
The change in her Master's deminer went over Fama’s head; she was just happy to have her Master to guide her. She jumped up and crossed her arms boldly, “Of course, I'm amazing.”
Rey rolled her eyes and stood up as well, remarking, “A Jedi should be humble.”
Fama stuck her nose up and corrected, “Then I'll be amazingly humble.”
The Jedis worry that she would misguid her pawadan with too much love evaporating. Clearly, if anything was destined to mislead Fama, it would be Fama herself. Rey rolled her eyes and remarked, “Enough smiling. You're supposed to be grounded.”
The girl sensed the change in mood and smiled impishly before declaring, “I'm going to go interpret my vision.”
Fama scoured away, leaving Rey alone to sign exasperatedly; she wondered if it was too late to take a note from her master's book and just live out the rest of her days in peaceful exile. No politics, no cultists, no padawans, no worries, just peace. She quickly came back to reality and smiled to herself. Exile was the easy way out. Being a Jedi, a diplomat, a teacher, a friend, and even just being a decent person all came with challenges, and giving up was just not in her nature.
A knock came on her door, and she started towards it, calling, “I'm coming.”
Rey met Emi at the door, and they swiftly made their way to an armored transport with two guardships. The Jedi thought this was a bit overkill, but her aid began to assault her with a pop quiz regarding the upcoming political hearing. By the time they arrived, her ears were ringing, and she felt a little dizzy. The subject being discussed at this event was how to handle past war crimes, which was a very heated subject. The Empire had committed an unknown number of atrocities during their war against the Galaxy but could claim that, at the time, their actions had been legal. While the Resistance was, in essence, a Freedom Fighting Organization that, under the eye of imperial law, amounted to little more than terrorism. Both sides wanted justice or, as the layman would call it, revenge, but neither were willing to make concessions.
According to the notes she had from Minerva and the Admiral, the goal of the Peace Seekers Alliance was to push this subject off till a more legitimate galactic-wide government could form. Some people would leak through the cracks this way, but if a resolution to this issue was prioritized, it would impede the establishment of peace throughout the galaxy. Rey hated the idea of even letting one guilty person free but could also imagine ex-imperials like DiDi felt the same way. The only issue was they had different opinions on who was guilty.
When Rey arrived in the large conference room, she was feeling rather nervous. She was about to participate in a meeting that would help alter the course of history. If she did everything right, she could help ensure peace; if she messed up, she could start a war. As a Jedi, this was not a responsibility she could run away from. She took a seat while Emi hovered behind her, ready to protect her from the evil politicians.
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As time passed, more people arrived, including some familiar faces. To Rey's delight, she saw Dukmar, the unaffiliated Wookie and ally of the Peace Seeking Alliance, accompanied by her old friend and mentor, Chewbacca. However, after this, things took a turn for the worse; two admirals arrived in quick succession. Admiral Adolfus and Admiral Vissar sat near each other and attracted much of the room's attention. Another important figure was Suket Blu, the leader of the Burkart Party within the New Republic. Three members of the Corporate alliance also arrived, led by the muun Az Tavuurd, who may have left a good impression by attending his talk but was supposed to be very opportunistic.
As other delegates arrived, just from what she could remember, things added up in the Jedi's mind. The attendance for this meeting was not supposed to be so high class; the subject matter might be important, but it was a conference, not a hearing, so no decision could actually be made. Emi eventually leaned in and whispered to her, “Be careful. We’ve walked into a trap.”
Rey maintained a calm expression, but on the inside, was a panicked mess; she withered back. “What do you mean?”
Emi responded swiftly, “A number of delegates have used the Dark APstials to withdraw from the less significant events. Typically, the delegates would be replaced by a representative or aide, but the Admirals and Corporate alliance have replaced their lower ranking delegates with their party leaders.”
Rey took this in and asked, “Ok, what does that mean?”
Emi explained the complex politics as simply as she could, “This is a very charged conference, so conflicts are likely to arise. If a fight were to break out now, it could be blown out of proportion and used to halt future discussions.”
This made sense to the Jedi, and she inquired, “So we just need to not let a fight break out.”
The cyborg responded in her usual tone, but the Jedi felt as though she were being talked to like a child, “That may not be possible. Most everyone here now would benefit from the peace talks being hindered.”
Rey read in between the lines and sought verification of her conclusion, “So you're saying everyone is here to fight.”
Emi met the Jedi gaze and answered, “We’re standing in the middle of an arena now.”
Rey swallowed and asked, “Will Minerva or the Primidian come to stop this.”
The cyborg whispered as Admiral Adolfus rose to his feet, “It’s unlikely that would violate the rules, and they have their own meetings right now.”
The Jedi let out a sigh and spoke half to Emi and half to herself, “Then it's up to us.”
Emi took a seat and murmured, “Not us, you.”
Admiral Adolfus held up a hand to silence the room at this and announced, “As the appointed overseer of this conference, I call this meeting to order.” At the center of the room, a silver orb levitated into the air as the man continued, “For the sake of historical perseverance, today's proceedings will be documented and published in its entirety.” He eyes the crowd, and Rey swore his gaze lingered on her longer than everyone else, causing her to shiver. At this point, with a regal gesture despite his short stature and oily complexion, he announced, “As agreed upon in the preceding arguments, the Corporate Alliance will be allowed to make the first statement.”
Az Tavuurd rose at this and, after a bow-like nod to the Admiral, began to speak, “Friends, today we are gathered to address injustices. Injustices beyond measure and beyond griff. Philosophers have often asked what is the worth of life, and today, we must answer that question. The lives lost in the last decades can't be overlooked or ignored. The guilty must be tried, and they must be punished. I beseech you all to unite with me in the name of justice. Peace can never be achieved until these grievances are laid to rest. Thus, it is imperative we approach this matter with the utmost caution. I believe the issue of the conflicts that have consumed the galaxy is not something we can resolve today or this week. It will be the work of years. Some people will be hasty and try to rush progress, but I ask you, is such progress worth abandoning justice.”
Most of the room clapped as the man took his seat, but Rey was not one of them. She may not be the most political or even intelligent person in the room, but what she had just heard sounded like a bunch of bureaucratic nonsense wrapped in a nice package.
Admiral Adolfus called for silence with a raise of his hand and announced, “The floor will now be open for commentary and inquiries.” With sinister eyes, he turned to Ray and added, “As agreed upon in the preceding arguments, the lead representative of the New Republic will be allowed to make the first remarks.”
Rey was frantic but maintained her cool. Her head still hurt, and this only became worse as her thoughts swirled around like a hurricane. She remembered what Emi had taught her and came to several quick conclusions.
What was the goal of her enemy?
To ruin the peace talks.
How would they do this?
Spark conflict and outrage.
How could she stop this?
Rey personally didn't have an answer, but Emi had thoroughly prepared her. In the event she didn't know how to respond, simply ask the person to clarify. She might look dumb momentarily, but it would buy time and force the politicians to avoid obscurity. Like so, the Jedi rose and took a breath before speaking, “Forgive me, honorable representative Tavuurd, but I am confused. You speak of injustices…” With a blank expression like one might expect from a child, she concluded, “What injustice would you be referring to?”