Chapitre 41: The Representatives of the Republic Part 1
Death was currently back in Mos Espa, inside Watto's shop. He claimed it was because he wanted to see how thinks had changed 'out of curiosity', but the truth was that Qui Gon Jinn, Jar Jar Binks, and Queen Amidala were were due to arrive any moment.
With the wealth Watto had gained from his trade with Death, the Toydarian bought two more slaves and a half dozen assistant droids, and likely a good deal more, though this was just what was obvious from Death's brief look around the place "You have done well for yourself, Watto" he complimented the Toydarian.
"Of course, of course, business is good." Watto replied. He was currently speaking the common tongue due to Pyrrha and Salem not speaking Huttese, and he did not want to be rude to such a valued customer. Death couldn't speak Huttese either, though his system had an automatic translation function, so everything was automatically translated for him.
"Speaking of business, it seems you have another customer" Death noted, looking to the trio that had just entered.
Watto nodded to Death and flew over to Qui Gon Jinn "Good day to you. What do you want?" he asked in huttese.
"I need parts for a J-type 327 Nubian." Qui Gon answered to the Toydarian.
"Ah yes! Nubian, we have lots of that." Watto insisted "Woman, get in here now!" he called to one of his two new slaves."
"My droid has a readout of what I need." Qui Gon added.
The young woman who came out was a petite twi'lik, with blue skin and he was reasonably attractive, but she was no Anakin. Death did not like slavery, but he couldn't do anything about it right now.
"What took you so long?" Watto asked the woman
"Sorry sir" the woman replied timidly.
"Watch the store, I've got some selling to do." Watto ordered before looking back at Qui Gon "So, let me take thee out back" Watto offered as Death approached with Pyrrha and Salem.
"Well, Qui God Jinn, this is a pleasant surprise." Death chuckled.
Death's greeting clearly surprised Qui Gom "Sorry, I'm afraid I don't know you" Qui Gon noted.
'Nerdgasm time' Death thought with a chuckle before speaking "There must be both dark and light. I will do what I must to keep the balance, as the balance is what holds all life. There is no good without evil, but evil must not be allowed to flourish. There is passion, yet peace; serenity, yet emotion; chaos, yet order. I am a wielder of the flame, a champion of balance, I am a guardian of life. I am Grey Jedi."
"Grey Jedi?" The Queen asked with confusion.
Death smiled at the 14 year old queen "The first Grey Jedi was a former Jedi Master named Revan. As a result, many Grey Jedi call themselves Revanites, after the founder of our ideology?"
"Wasn't Revan a Sith lord?" the Queen asked, still confused.
"The Jedi likely do not tell the full story." Death insisted to the queen "Possibly never even recorded the truth in the first place." he then looked at Qui Gon "I foresaw your arrival here a year ago, The Nubian T-14 Hyperdrive Generator you are after has already been purchased by me. Watto has many Nubian parts left, but I have the only one of that part that he possessed. I am willing to give it to you if you accompany me to my home."
Watto was just as shocked as Qui Gon was. He had never heard of Grey Jedi before, but predicting someone would come looking for a certain part a year before their arrival was an impressive feat in the eyes of the Toydarian.
"I'm afraid that my friend speaks truly, he did buy the only one of that part that I possessed." Watto grudgingly admitted "But if you need other parts I can still help with those."
"While he does that, if the young lady withes to know more forgotten truths about Revan, then I will happily share them. I guarantee that no harm will befall you with me around. I am a champion of life, after all." he smirked.
He was well aware that they'd need other parts. The generator was the only one mentioned in the movie by name, but there was likely many more "Watto, whatever they need for their ship, I'll offer a suitable number of Durelium ingots in exchange for. These are, after all, my new friends." he then looked at the queen "A place like this wont accept Republic credits, so you are fortunate that I am here."
"Of course...Of course..." Watto said with a greedy glint in his eyes.
"I believe I'll be fine with this young man and his friends." The Queen said to Qui Gon.
"Right, don't by intimidated by my name, now, but I am Death Rose, and my companions here are Pyrrha Nikos and Salem Rose." Death introduced them both to her.
"It's a pleasure to meet you." Pyrrha greeted the Queen.
Though a tad reluctant, Qui Gon, R2-D2, and Jar Jar followed Watto into the back.
"So, you said that the Jedi lied about this Revan?" the queen asked.
"By omission, yes. You see, there was a war against the Mandalorian's and the Jedi counsel sensed that there was someone hidden instigating the war, They were hesitant to enter the conflict, afraid that it was what the mysterious enemy wanted them to do." Death explained to the Queen "Jedi Master Revan, however, was of a different mindset. Oh, he certainly knew that whoever instigated the war wanted the Jedi to enter it, but in spite of it likely being a trap, he felt that the Jedi still had a duty to protect the people. He led a group of Jedi that defied the will of the Council and joined in the war to defend the Republic and it's people."
"That much I heard" the disguised queen insisted.
"The omitted part is that after the war was won, Revan and his Padawan Malak went to investigate who instigated the war in the first place, and the two of them found that hidden force." Death insisted "Nowadays, the Sith is considered an ideology, but it actually began with a species by the same name. In Revan's time the Sith species was believed to be extinct, but boy were they wrong. Revan and Malak tried to confront the Sith Emperor, but were defeated and brainwashed, sent back to the Republic as 'sith lords' to weaken the Republic for the eventual invasion of the 'True Sith'. Revan shook himself free from the brainwashing, but the Republic, however, was not united at the time at all, as their were many hard feelings and feuds remained after the Mandalorian War. If the Sith Empire that had been secretly rebuilding its power over many centuries had invaded at that point, Revan knew that the Republic would be lost, so he decided the best way to unite the Republic was to continue playing the role of the 'sith lord' and conquer it piece by piece, while minimizing loss of life and damage to war infrastructure."
Queen Amidala was shocked by what she had just heard "But I heard that there was many worlds laid to waste in that war."
"Only after Malak betrayed Revan and allowed his master to be captured by the Jedi." Death insisted "Malak, after all, was never able to break free from the Sith Emperor's mind control the way that Revan was. Where Revan wanted to preserve the Republic's strength for the inevitable invasion of the Sith Empire, Malak remained compelled to weaken the Republic. The atrocities of that war started under Darth Malak, not under Revan. Revan was willing to do what was necessary, to pay the ultimate price, to be branded forever as a villain, all for the sake of saving the Republic."
"You don't like the Jedi much" the Queen asked.
"Well, they are extremists like the Sith, just in the opposite direction. They are tolerable, but still flawed." Death insisted to the Queen.
"Can you give me an example of their flaws?" Queen Amidala asked.
"Mecha Deru" Death answered without hesitation "This is a force ability that lets one control machines, yet the Jedi label it as a 'dark-side' power. It was invested by a sith, yes, and he found a horrendously evil way to use it, but that doesn't make it a dark side power. Even Force Healing, which is considered a light side power, can be used to kill if implemented in the right manner. Do you think a brain can handle over-stimulation for long periods of time before causing a stroke? Would someone using force healing in that manner then make it instantly a dark side power? Barring their people from learning such a useful skill because one person found an evil way to use it in the past seems extremely foolish to me."
"I see." Queen Amidala answered "When you put it like that the Jedi do sound a bit foolish. You seem to like Mast Qui Gon though, right?"
"He seems a bit like a Grey Jedi to me, not as uptight as many other Jedi are. Of course I think he is worthy of admiration." Death insisted "By the way, when do you plan to tell Qui Gon that you are not the Queen's handmaiden, but Queen Amidala herself" he whispered in the queens ear.
Queen Amidala blushed and wondered to herself how Death knew who she was, but then she recalled that he had predicted their arrival a year ago, so maybe she should not be so surprised. Jedi and, it seemed, Grey Jedi, were quite mysterious to her.
When Qui Gon, Watto, R2-D2 and Jar Jar returned, Watto flew over to Death "Death, my friend, we've gathered all that your associate wants. Regarding the price, how about 500 pounds of Durelium ingots, does that sound good?"
Death nodded to Watto "I trust that the parts have been gathered in one place?"
"Of course, of course. You can have that odd ship of yours come and pick them up any time." Watto insisted.
Death nodded "My puddle jumper is on the way here, it has the bars you seek. lets go out back and make the exchange, then I can bring my new friends to my home."
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After getting to where the parts were gathered, Death had the puddle jumper land nearby and uncloak, stunning Qui Gon and the others, except Watto, who had seen it before. Death, Pyrrha and Salem were all amused by their shock.
The deal was concluded and everything was loaded into the puddle jumper, and Death invited the others into it as well. Once the hatch closed, they cloaked again and started lifting off "You called this a puddle jumper? I've never heard of a vessel with a name like that." Queen Amidala noted .
"This vessel was invented by a species called the Lanteans, that disappeared from the universe millions of years ago." Death told the queen "Lanteans were also called the Bridge Builders, because their greatest invention was the stargates. Puddle Jumpers are built this compact to be able to pass through Stargates."
"What's a stargate?" Queen Amidala asked.
"I'll show you one once we reach the city ship" Death insisted to the adorable little Queen of Naboo.
"City Ship?" The queen asked with shock.
"We call it El Dorado, but it's nowhere bear as large as the City Ship Atlantis. El Dorado also only has an Intergalactic Hyperdrive, not a Wormhole Drive like Atlantis" Death said boastfully.
"How fast is this hyperdrive of yours?" Qui Gon asked.
"225 light years..." Death smirked "Per second, or 810,000 light years per hour."
Qui Gon looked like someone just kicked his dog right in front of him "That's impossible."
"And the wormhole drive on Atlantis is much faster." Death added. "The Universe is a lot larger then you may realize, Qui Gon." he touched one of the consoles and had Holograms appear, showing their surroundings outside of the puddle jumper. They had left Mos Espa far behind them and were over a rugged mountainous region of the planet.
"Meesa not like look of this place." Jar Jar complained.
Death sighed, thinking that his luck couldn't last forever. Jar Jar always annoyed him in his last life, but he couldn't just get rid of him yet, unfortunately. Death didn't want to kill Jar Jar, of course, but once he had the opportunity to be free of the walking natural disaster he would be glad of it.
"We are close to home." Pyrrha reassured the others, and indeed they were. otherwise the puddle jumper wouldn't be going so slow.
"I don't see anything like a city" Qui Gon insisted as they started descending.
"You will when we pass through the camouflage barrier." Death insisted..
As he said this, they passed through the barrier and a beautiful forest appeared on the holographic monitors.
"This is really Tatooine? Is that a lake?" Qui Gon asked with shock.
"It's a massive artificial lake, yes." Death chuckled "One shouldn't underestimate others, Master Jedi. That lake is quite deep. Here we do not lack water as in much of this world."
"Those buildings on the island seem a bit odd" Queen Amidala noted.
"Lantean design." Death just shrugged "We could have redesigned them when they were in the planning stage but decided not to mess with something that already works fine."
"And this whole city is one large space ship?" Queen Amidala asked, estimating that the city that drew closer was a 2 kilometer wide circle.
"Yes, but El Dorado is only two and a half Kilometers across" Death told the queen "Atlantis is 5 kilometers across, so it's small by comparison. In a pinch, El Dorado, like Atlantis, can activate it's force field and sink underneath the water to safety. At least, that is how it is designed and why we made the lake so deep. The reality is that El Dorado is basically indestructible against any weapon currently in existence, except for the ones already in our control. Well, the Nox could perhaps be a threat if they wanted too be, but they are isolationist and pacifist, and I wouldn't go trying to mess with them even if i knew where they were currently." of course, he would have to go to a different universe to even find them, but Qui Gon didn't need to know that. There was no harm in instilling in the Jedi that such a mighty species was still out there somewhere.
The people of this Galaxy did not have intergalactic hyperdrive technology, so Qui Gon could just assume that the Nox was a species in another Galaxy. Knowing that a race like that is out there might humble the Jedi a bit, which he would not disapprove of "The Furlings, the Lanteans, the Asgard and the Nox made up the Alliance of Four Great Races, you could say they were the first sentient races to appear, and also the most advanced. The final fate of the Furlings is unknown, so they might still be out there somewhere as well. The Asgard race is a fading species, they survived through cloning, but after many generations of clones, their genetic make-up has deteriorated and they have to transfer into new bodies more and more often. At this point their extinction is inevitable, but for now they are still mighty. And as for the Lantean's, or the bridge builders, they ascended to a higher state and became god-like entities, but similar to the Nox they have isolated themselves and become more pacifistic. They were and are the mightiest of the four great races, and the technology that we use here came from them."
"I do not sense any lies." Qui Gon admitted as they flew over the landing site where the Untouchable was stationed to the building next to it which had the roof open up and let them descend into it, into the puddle jumper docks.
Once they were properly docked, the hatch opened and the Puddle Jumper powered down. There was a total of 40 Puddle Jumpers docked in a total of 6 floors (0 at ground level and 8 on each of the upper 5 floors of the round room. The Puddle jumper that they were in was on the 6th level, with no obvious path down.
"Dis dangerous." Jar Jar said, shocked by how far down the fall was.
Death chuckled "It's fine." he looked down towards ground level and gave someone there a nod. It was time to show off a bit.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone