Chapter 21

A ruler's domain is where he strongest...if they are not naive of it's weaknesses.

Finis' Valorum's Luxury Apartment, Corellia

Indulging in his daily glass of wine, Finis Valorum sat on his comfy sofa in his sleeping robes as watches the GNN news feed on his holographic projector. "...Now in other news, things are heating up in the planetary polls as Ruwee Naberrie is leading in the primaries by 20% compared to his contemporaries. But the question remains, is he fit enough to become Senator of Naboo? Could he hold his own against a Rim Candidate in the primaries? or would he just rely on his popularity as a crutch until his campaign crashes and burns? All I'm saying is for the sake of the people of Naboo, as a Naboo Native myself, we should weigh out our options before voting a representative that lacks the proper experience..."

As the reporter continues to banter, Finis' security guard stands next to him as he hands him a comlink. "Sir, you have a call."

"Transfer it to the projector." Valorum ordered.

The security guard nodded and walked off, after a few minutes, the holo-screen shifted from it's usual programming into a large holo-call, with the caller's head floating in a holographic state.

"Chairman! I assume you have heard the news just now and I must say, it was a clever play on my part." Valorum boasted.

"It's pitiful" Plagueis simply replied.

"Wha-what do you mean?"

"Political banter is useless, in order for Naberrie's campaign to fail you need to target him directly, target his weakness." Plagueis explained.

"But I did, his weakness is his lack of political experience-"

"To the general public, a man who's not integrated in the system is more trustworthy than a man who knows the system well enough." Plagueis replied.

"Right." Valroum paused, "Ok then, how will I attack him?" he said, sitting back as he crossed his legs.

"Target his most prized possession."

Finis sat for a moment until bells started ringing in his head; "His charity?"

"Precisely, by turning his greatest strength into his greatest weakness, it will leave him vunerable." Plagueis explained.

"I see, how will I weaken it?" Finis asked.

"That is up to you to figure out, Valorum." Plagueis said. "And if you fail, then I'll take matters into my hands." The hologram disappated, leaving Valorum to figure out his next move on taking down Ruwee's campaign. A few moments pass and the servant droid returns to the living room and asks "Sir, are you in need of anything?"

Valorum paused; "Yes, get me in contact with the President of the GNN."

"Very well." the servant droid said as it waddled away.

Republic Hangar

Entering his destination, Master Syfo-Dias quickly met up with his partner, who stands patiently, waiting for the Jedi Master's arrival.

"Jedi Master Syfo-Dias." Suliman greeted simply.

"I'm sorry for my tardiness, I-"

"It's alright Master Jedi, you came just in time." Suliman replied. As he said this, as a landspeeder, landed right at the docking bay with a Republic Soldier as it's pilot.

"Shall we?" Suliman motioned.

Syfo-Dias nodded and hopped into the speeder with Suliman following behind them. Once the cockpit closed, the ship lifted a few feet into the air and shot itself into the daylight.

They both sat quietly for a few minutes as the turbulence ran it's course. "I assume you weren't told about the mission."

"You assumed correctly." Syfo-Dias replied.

Suliman pulled out his holopad and handed it to the Jedi Master next to him, Syfo-Dias took the holopad and looked at the profile in front of him. "Jira Maak, he's the head spice lord of the Coruscant sector for the Pyke Syndicate. Him and his sentinels have been the ones, distributing the spice throughout Coru City." He continued; "His influence has increasingly become a problem for our communities."

"Are law enforcement involved in this?" the Jedi Master asked.

"No, I assume they have been paid off."

"Has the Republic done anything?"

"If they did, we wouldn't be here in the first place." Suliman said.

"Good point." Syfo-Dias replied; "What is the mission then?"

"We are going down to Level 1313 to negotiate with him, the goal is to drive him out of the surface world for good, even if we don't have to kill him." Suliman explained.

"A negotiation mission? with a spice lord?" Syfo-Dias said with a confused tone.

"I know, it's ridiculous, a Galactic government that has knowledge of a spice Lord's whereabouts, has sent two men to do the job instead of a whole army." Suliman said in a distasteful tone.

"You seem passionate about this." Syfo-Dias pointed out.

Suliman sighed; "I am, I've been trying stop this epidemic since Valorum was in office." he paused; "But with no avail, they think war with the spice cartels would not be beneficial to the 'state of affairs'. When it's the people they should thinking about, not themselves."

"Politicians simply want self-preservation." The Jedi Master replied.

"They never understand, until it happens to their own flesh and blood."

"What do you mean?" Syfo-Dias asked.

Suliman paused for a few moments to hold back the emotions that begin to rise within him. "I had a younger sister once, I took care of her since I was five years old, our parents gave us up for adoption and we were sent from foster home to foster home until we eventually ran away from the program to live on our own." He continued; "At the age of sixteen I started working jobs sporadically throughout the city to save enough credits to buy us a place to stay, sometimes I even had to bring my sister with me because it was too dangerous to leave her in the alley that we slept at. Eventually I got us a roof under our heads and enough money to put food on the table." He paused; "I thought we finally got the life we wanted, though it was simple, we at least had each other to count on and a safe place to sleep. But I was naive to think my sister felt the same, I did not know she started using spice until I found her laying on the floor in the bathroom." Suliman paused once more to gather himself; "I tried to help her, paid credits for her to get help, sent her to the hospital to save her from over dosing, did anything to stop her addiction." He said as he gripped his fist; "But it in the end, her death was inevitable." He continued; "I became angry at the universe, myself and the people responsible, I fell into a deep depression that almost took my own life. But I managed to gather myself and ascend into the position I'm in today and with that, I want to change the system from the inside, the greed, the destruction, the suffering, all of it."

Syfo-Dias sat, holding in his emotions as he said; "Well... I am sorry to hear that, I hope you get the justice that you deserve."

"At the point, I'm not seeking justice for myself but for my people." Suliman said confidently. As he said this, the land speeder suddenly came to a halt with the pilot turning around as he said; "We have arrived sir, I've been ordered to land below the surface level but I cannot stay out of precaution."

"Very well, proceed landing." Suliman assured.

The pilot nodded and positioned the speeder for landing. The land speeder slowly but surely lowered itself layer by layer towards the underground the city of Level 1313. Off towards the distance, a shadow-like figure positioned at it's post, sat as it watched the speeder land below the surface. Another shadow-like figure appeared next to it and the two exchanged words in a non-basic language until one of them ducked off into the darkness.

Level 1313

Landing in a safe distant location, both men exited the landspeeder, watching it as it took off into the distance. Suliman pulled out his holopad once more and showed the Jedi Master, a large holographic structure, built somewhat like a tower. "This is Jira Maak's castle, for us to get in, we have to find a connect." He continued; "But once we get in, we have to stay calm, because one wrong move will destroy our objective." Before he could finish his sentence, a huge explosion was heard from the distance as rubble began to rain upon the two men. They both quickly put on their hoods, running from the flaming parts as they land piece by piece. Suliman stopped in his tracks as a pilot's helmet landed at his feet with fire blazing from it's top. In horror he said; "We have to move! now!" The two ran from the scene as fast as they could, to avoid any danger.

The Jedi and his partner ran into a near by bar where they were met with a busy but tense atmosphere full of alcohol, female species of different kinds and heavily armed criminals. The two quickly regained composure and walked around as normal as they could. Suliman began to scope for any leads on the location of Jira Maak's Castle. He then saw a smuggler sitting in an empty table, that peaked his interest; "Follow my lead." he whispered as he motioned the Jedi Master to follow him.

They both walked up to a Weequay male, who sat in his own booth as Suliman said; "May I?"

The Weequay man looked at the Chancellor's Advisor for a second and then at the Jedi. "Go ahead."

They both sat, with their identities still hidden, across from the supposed smuggler, as he continued to enjoy his drink. After one last sip and a wipe from arm to mouth, his eyes gazed at both the Jedi and the Advisor. "What do you want?"

"We want to know if you know the location of Jira Maak's Castle." Suliman said, keeping his voice low.

The Weequay paused; "Hm. Jira Maak... that doesn't ring a bell, nope."

"You smuggle shipments for him." Syfo-Dias said, reading into the Weequay's mind.

"I do jobs for the right price, I don't work for anyone." the Weequay replied.

Suliman planted 300 credits on the table as he said; "Is this the right price for you?"

"It's a nice deposit, but 200 more can get you what you want." the Weequay said.

"So you do know who Jira Maak is?" Syfo-Dias questioned.

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't, 200 more and you'll find out." the Weequay pressured.

"Maybe you will take the 300 instead." Syfo-Dias said as he waved his hand.

"Maybe I will take the 300 instead." the Weequay said as he grabbed the 300 credits.

"Now tell me the location of Jira Maak's Castle."

"Now I will tell you the location of Jira Maak's Castle." the Weequay repeated.

Before he could continue, two Sentinels approached the table with a CP unit droid standing in front of them. "Hondo, My master has summoned you for another task." the droid said.

The droid turned it's head to examine the two men sitting across from the Weequay. The Jedi and the Advisor acted normal as the droid made it's calculations. After a few mere seconds, the droid shifted it's head back toward the smuggler; "Follow us, Hondo."

The Weequay snapped back into reality, blinking as he realizes what's going on. He pulls out a bunch of credits from his pocket, after a minute of counting he says; "Hey! I said 500! You ripped me off!"

"No, you accepted the 300." Syfo-Dias replied.

Hondo turns toward the droid and the sentinels as he points; "These men are looking for Jira Maak's Castle."

"Is that so?" the droid said, shifting it's head toward the two men.

Suliman quickly interjected; "I have an offer for your master, a special offer he can't refuse, that's why we're looking for his residence."

The droid stood for a minute; "Very well, follow me." The droid and his Sentinel guards, casually walked away from the table. The three men looked at each other and then got up to follow the droid outside. All three men hopped into a expensive looking landspeeder, driving off into the distance in a instant. Once they reached their destination, the landspeeder, landed on a docking bridge sitting high above the ground level floor of the castle.

The droid exited the speeder, with the Jedi, The Weequay and the Chancellor's Advisor following suit. The four, accompanied by the two Sentinel guards, quietly walked towards the end of the bridge where they were met with another pair of guards. The droid spoke to them briefly and then turned toward the guests as it said "This way."

The four of them continued into the castle, walking through a grand hall, filled with statues of Jira Maak himself. "He seems fond of his self-image." Syfo-Dias commented.

"Master Maak has quite the appreciation for fine art." The droid replied.

"I see." Syfo-Dias said sarcastically as he exchanged glances with Suliman.

"This art might be worth a some nice credits." Hondo said to himself.

The three men and the droid eventually made it towards the grand doors that lay before them. As they shift open, a grand throne room is revealed with a line up of Sentinel guards standing side-by-side and across from eachother on a long red carpet.

The droid quickly waddled toward the throne and quietly explained the current situation as the three men stood in the distance. Jira Maak stared at the three men and motioned for them to move forward.

"Is he calling us?" Hondo whispered.

"I'm positive, that he is." Syfo-Dias replied.

The three men walked foward until they stood face to face with aforementioned spice lord. Suiliman spoke up first as he said, "Lord Jira Maak, I've come with a proposition."

A/N: Sorry, for the long wait, I've been on vacation and life has been stressful in terms of time, but I hoped you enjoy this chapter!