Rights and obligations of the parties

I flew to Mandalore as fast as I'd come back from Corellia-as fast as I could. This time, though, it was much farther, because Mandalore was on the periphery of the galaxy, and Alderaan was among the core worlds.

I ran out of the dormitory, jumped into my speeder, which was assembled from Sith interceptors, and raced toward the spaceport at the fastest possible speed. The speed of my speeder was, to put it mildly, exorbitant - maximum subsonic. That is, in the region of a thousand kilometers per hour. The journey to the spaceport, which was about 10 kilometers away, took less than a minute. Here was where the trouble started. My ship was in its place, but looking at it, I decided to take the desperate step of buying a new one. Simply because a week to Mandalore is too much, and I've flown before, so I know how long the journey will take. If I take the back roads and vegetable gardens, that is, bypassing all the paths, the speed won't increase much-the distance between Mandalore and Alderaan will still be long.

When I thought of buying another ship, I turned the speeder around and raced at the same breakneck speed to the dealer, who had me in a few minutes.

In general, trading ships is a pretty peculiar business - there are representatives of manufacturers, and resellers, from whom you can find quite rare copies of used or new ships. Sometimes the resellers were official dealers, but only the big ones. I bought my G9 in a local luxury salon, but now I was going to the "ship market". There was one on Alderaan, and I used to visit it a lot - I used my powers to look at ship designs, memorize, and analyze this or that technical solution. I had no time or energy for that after I started my real studies, but still...

I can tell separately about the brakes of my speeder. While everywhere else the thrust vector of the main engine shifts forward during braking, I have a separate braking motor. This solution makes it possible to brake instantly, unlike thrust reversal, which can give out about ten percent of the engine power, but it was worth it. I could not do much about it, but it was worth it. I tried to scare the people standing by the big pavilion, who darted away, and I braked a millimeter away from the wall, thanks to my power. I immediately jumped out of the speeder and rushed into the pavilion. Inside, of course, there were no real ships, but there was a market, which in its character reminded me of "hunchback" or "Savelovsky" - thousands of stalls and corners, where there were droids, parts of ships, other technical gadgets of all kinds, from datapads of thousands of different variations, and ending with huge navigation computers. There were, by the way, also departments for retro merchandise. I even thought of selling them Sith interceptors, but I had no time for that, and there wasn't much money to be made from it. Such interceptors were not collectible rarities, they were riveted by the hundreds of thousands during the war and it wasn't that hard to find one.

I went to the place where the ship merchant was sitting - I didn't even know his name, and he was in no hurry to introduce himself and smile at his customers.

The peddler I needed was found quickly - I made my way to his pavilion at such a fast pace that it would be more correct to say that I ran slowly.

- Oh, it's you," he greeted me, "I haven't seen you in a while. You decided to come in, didn't you?

- Not now," I interrupted him. I need the fastest ship you can find.

The salesman seemed taken aback for a few seconds, but he quickly got over himself and went to the terminal.

His store was a boutique that sold the highest quality stuffing for ships. The prices were scary, but so was the quality. It was worth it more often than not, because I could tell what was hidden underneath the merchandise.

In the corner were three R2s, a blue, a yellow, and a pistachio-colored droid. While the salesman was stuck with the ship, I looked over his merchandise. I wish I could rush him, but there was no point - he'd probably just brush it off and keep working at the same pace.

On a separate stand were several models of ships, from small fighters to large merchants. While I was examining the insides of the droids by force and mentally whistling about what I could do with simple R2s, the salesman finally found what he was looking for and caught my attention with a cough.

- Look," he held up a holoprojection over the counter. There were several ships there.

Seeing my scrutiny, the salesman explained:

- Three of the fastest ships we have.

Two I recognized were the Nubian ash-class yacht and the fastest Corellian Corporation yacht, the Crown of the Sun.

Large, half a hundred meters long, with chopped shapes that are surprisingly harmonious. Somewhat reminiscent of a strongly elongated cross between an HWK-290 and a Corellian passenger shuttle. The engines were not in pylons, but stood on the hull, as in the Corellian passenger shuttle, only they were located directly on the hull, on three sides in special equally square-shaped hulls.

- Hyperdrive, crew?

- The Nubian yacht has a crew of three, a navigator, a pilot, a technician, and droids. The Corona has the same, and this," he pointed to the ship, and the image enlarged, "is the SoroSub research vessel 'Discoverer,' crewed by one man and one droid.

- Is there anything faster? - I squinted. - The hyperdrive on the Nubian Ash is too low class. I'll say nothing about the Discoverer, it's a very specialized vessel, but the Korona is more suited to my needs. But I would like the fastest ship possible.

The salesman grinned, but went back to the terminal, asking questions as he went:

- How much are you willing to pay?

- Don't count my money, show me the ships.

He smirked again and said:

- The fastest are the castaways, but they cost a lot more, and there's not much range.

- Show me.

As far as I knew, a custom ship was something that had been modified by skilled engineers, and its specifications went far beyond the limits of an ordinary, slightly remodeled ship. These were full-scale modifications of ships, sometimes changing the class, size and shape of the ship. A typical example of customization is the Millennium Falcon, in which not only the hyperdrive was replaced, but also a bunch of other systems. The Falcon's performance characteristics only became available to the masses a hundred years after the fall of the Empire.

In short, custom was what I needed.

- I have no blueprints, and the dock guys will tell you what it's all about.

- Can you show me the way? - I asked. The seller hesitated, but I convinced him: - Definitely I will. I have to leave urgently today, and you guys are handy, as I see. Look what they did to R2..." I nodded at the droid. The salesman frowned. On the outside these droids were no different from the usual, although the inside was very different - a real monster of engineering - four manipulators each, and even with a set of tools, powerful reactors, systems that can do precision machining of metal and a whole range of other tools from plasma cutting to engraver.

Leaving my suspicious remarks behind, the salesman closed the shop and we flew... well, flew - in my speeder. I had my hands in the right place, too, though it was uncomfortable inside, the interior was entirely from a warship, and the speed... when I took off for the designated spaceport, the salesman whistled. In fact, the speeder easily picked up speed close to Mach, and in a couple of minutes we were already in a small spaceport on the outskirts of the city. The buildings were rather spacious hangars and concrete boxes that housed workshops, judging from the salesman's story. I pulled up to the entrance and braked as I did before. The salesman remained unperturbed, but scared hard-the speeder stopped less than an inch from the wall.

We got out and went to see the ships. Erdva followed us.

In the hangars they showed me the Nabuan yacht, which had been modified to the max. For one VIP passenger. The next custom was that "Crown of the Sun", with a zero-five hyperdrive. And at the end, I was shown a yacht from Incom Corporation, which also had the same hyperdrive. The shields were only on the Nabuan ship, and even that was symbolic, on the others there was not enough energy for the shields, so they were left as is. Atmospheric speed was impressive-four Machs for the Nabuan and three for the Corellian boats. Baudo couldn't boast that.

The interior of the ship, which I immediately looked at, said that they had been modified quite well - there did not seem to be any particular "major" improvements, but the main instruments, systems, even hull parts, had been replaced by some of the best.

- Give me the Crown," I said, pointing my finger at the ship. - How much do I owe you?

- Ten million," cut off the salesman, who was walking beside me, "I warned you.

- Yes, yes, I remember. So that's zero-five basic and a third class reserve," I sighed. - Go ahead and do it. You don't have to register locally; I'll be gone in a minute, anyway.

If you don't register the boat locally, it'll speed up the registration a hundredfold. All that remains is to sign the contract and send the data to the appropriate bureaucratic authorities.

The registration did not take much time - I just signed where necessary, left my fingerprint and genetic material, and voila. In half an hour, I took off, and the hangar boys had kindly thrown me some supplies and fuel.

Mandalore and his problems were waiting for me.

Despite the fact that the speed of the ship was maximum, it was not possible to get immediately - if only because I flew in a straight line, past all the hyperspace routes. Of course, it was faster, but I'm not a robot - after twelve hours of navigating by force, I had to sleep at least four hours. The schedule was exhausting, but acceptable. The speed of the ship was... remarkable. Just like on the old Barloz, with the same hyperdrive - the ship flew in hyperspace, bypassing stars and planets. No one stopped, no one inspected, and no one, in general, all the surrounding planets are explored. On some planets in such a "dark" place there were mining colonies, most often with droids as workers, because live personnel required supplies and tracking, and it was expensive to organize them.

Tired, I decided to rest before the final flight for eight hours instead of four, and got a good night's sleep. Normally four hours were enough for me to be completely happy, but with a heavy load, six to eight hours was required, no less. Thus, I cleaned myself up - I did not need a shave yet, but it was nice to visit all the facilities available on a luxury yacht. Here you have a cabin larger than my dorm room, and furnished by the first class, there is a local "Jacuzzi", and much more.

I left for the final jump only after I was ready to face the trouble.

It took me a couple of hours to reach Mandalore-the ship left not far from the planet, where I reported to the apt Mandalorian air defense as usual about who I was and why I was flying to the capital. An audience with the Duchess is a worthy occasion. I think she would be informed of my arrival at once.

The ship was on its way down to Keldab. Much faster than the transport, so in ten minutes I was already in the spaceport of Mandalore's capital.

* Mandalore, Anakin Skywalker *

The Mandalore duchess, Satine Kreese, was surprisingly calm. And, admittedly, quite a pretty girl-she was twenty-four years old and looked like the other twenty-four-year-old women raised among aristocrats. Though she differed positively from the aristocrats I had seen at the academy. In the first place - sincerity and almost complete absence of hypocrisy.

The government residence was a few blocks from the Mandalmotors Tower, and was a large building with a rather original layout.

I was quickly escorted through the corridors of the palace to the spacious but rather cozy room where the queen was. As far as I could tell, she wasn't expecting my arrival so soon; she hadn't had time to prepare, so she improvised. In a separate wing, in a cozy sitting room, Satine Kreese was waiting for me. When I entered, the servant who had been escorting me bowed briefly and quickly walked back out. At first glance, the living room was empty. A couple of couches, a coffee table, flowers in a vase, and a rather beautiful view of the garden outside the window. A woman's hand was immediately apparent; a male ruler would have invited a study or a conference room. The duchess chose a one-on-one meeting format.

From the next room, while I was looking out the window, the Duchess came out. She walked quietly, probably intending to scare me a little with her appearance, but I looked her over, taking advantage of my unusual peculiarity of vision. She was blonde, human, with regular features, blue eyes, and an ordinary hairdo, without any of the ceremonial adornments that high-ranking ladies of the galaxy are so fond of. In some ways she reminded me of my current self - the color of her eyes, her hair, her face shape almost thin... I smiled at the resemblance, but remained silent. She came up behind me and spoke sharply:

- Anakin Skywalker.

I didn't turn around, admiring the garden where the droids were watering the flower beds. I didn't let on that I'd heard her at all-she knows exactly who I am and why I'm here, she must have been told before the ship went down to the spaceport. But it wouldn't be right to get cocky with the ruler of a planet like Mandalore-it was with Padme that I allowed myself some rather ambiguous jokes and banter, because she is a kind and somewhat sweet girl in her simplicity and honesty. I did not know Satin, so I followed the universal advice of diplomats.

- Satine Kreese," I smiled with the tips of my lips, which she must have considered as I was reflected in the glass of the window.

- Anakin, I'm glad you flew in as quickly as you could," she let off a hint that she was expecting me later.

- When you have a wobbly throne, any wait seems like an eternity," I replied with a hint of a hint, "so I tried to see you faster than the Death Watch," Satin inwardly shuddered and clearly got in the mood for business. The mention of her sworn enemies brought the girl to her senses, and the exchange of pleasantries ended. She felt some ground under her feet - her rule is the only thing that keeps people from the massacre of KMK and the nationalization of the deposits, but this is a double-edged sword - she can't threaten me with being overthrown, so she will fight to the last. Not wanting to give her the lead in the negotiations, I began my half-improvised speech:

- I understand that my little ore mining venture has led to a legitimate discontent among the people. I would not hesitate to overthrow the government if I were them, so accept my admiration for the loyalty of your subjects. But, as always, there are those who benefit from what's happening, aren't there? - I asked, and finally turned to face Satine. I have to admit, as I thought, we are quite similar in appearance, so if put side by side, we can pass for brother and sister. Hmm... she looked me over the same way, but quickly stopped that activity and sat down on the couch. She was wearing a dark blue dress just below her knees, with almost no cleavage.

- So it is," Satin nodded, "and here you have done a great service to my opposition.

- The opposition knows how to use every assumption of power to their advantage, so it would be strange to expect them to do otherwise. Though you are right, this Beskar affair has badly undermined your positions, - I was not very good at this situation, but only from the news I read some pacifists and journalists, bought by the deathwatch, throwing things at each other. The situation was frankly unpleasant, for I had badly set Satin up and damaged her reputation.

- You can't take that away from them, but you know what I mean," Satin squinted, "there's no way we can drag this out any longer. According to my experts, more than forty percent of the media is already running a campaign of discredit against the government.

- You deal with the media yourself," I interrupted her rudely, "it's not my business who to punish and why. Also, as you understand, many internal disputes of your aristocracy and their eternal mutual claims do not bother me.

- I understand," Satine nodded, "but you've become quite an important figure in them.

- Perhaps," I declined to answer, "but that doesn't prevent me from treating you and the warrior clans alike. Though they haven't asked me to talk to them yet, and that's a good thing for you," I smiled at the questionable compliment. - So let's talk about business, not politics. I have no desire right now to get involved in a showdown between two factions. Despite the fact that I was the cause of the showdown.

The Duchess smiled tautly. She was probably hoping to win me over to her side and make me an ally, if not a subordinate, and thus strengthen her position. That didn't scare me, but the polarity of our relationship had to be reversed-an alliance with Mandalore fit my plans well enough to make my life a lot easier when I needed it, but the opportunity to act was now. In some ways I was glad that this was happening, but it was untimely, too soon, and I was frankly unsure of my ventures, and the whole thing could blow up at any moment. I had to act on a very elusive Plan. Any long-term planning for the future was problematic, even though I had a good idea of what was going on in the Republic.

I had made my decisions, so now I could relax and start bargaining.

- "Speaking of business," Satine nodded, "what do you want for the mines? Money? A title perhaps? - The duchess was willing to give what she could. But such primitive advantages I could have achieved without her help, she just didn't know that I wasn't acting with the purpose of putting my ass in the soft chair of a high-ranking official and stuffing my pockets with credits. Although this was true of almost all my classmates-their money and title would have guaranteed them a good career.

- No, that's not how it works," I shook my head, "I can make money. Not with the help of your planet, but in other ways. A title? It is warmer, but in that case I will be your subject, and to obey, to anyone, except the law, dictated by common sense, I do not like.

- I can give my word that I will not interfere in your affairs," Satin said. - So there's nothing wrong with that.

- 'No, Satin, you will allow me to call you that, won't you? - The lady nodded in response, clearly not offended by the familiarity.

- Let's call it "you," then, don't you mind? - The Duchess suggested. Of course, I had the power both to make her an exile and to consolidate her position in the political arena. You might say that Satin Kreese was in my hands at the moment. Powerful enough hands. An understanding of interconnection and dependence is instilled in aristocrats from childhood, even Mandalorians, so de facto for her I was no less a figure than she was. Not legally, but in this position, I was on a par with, if not above, her in my capabilities.

- No, of course," I smiled. Neither did Satin, for the "switch to a T" was a standard situation, showing that to some extent the parties were benevolent to each other. Standard in the galaxy was more protocol, though how in Mandalorian I don't know.

- What exactly is it that you don't like? - Satin made an attempt to identify my needs. Crude, but effective in most cases.

- You see, unlike most of my fellow students at the Alderaan Academy, an official's chair and a steady paycheck are not the pinnacle of my ambition. I wouldn't say I have my life planned out, but I aspire to more than a middle-class aristocrat can achieve, even with a fair amount of enthusiasm and ambition. So a title would not help my position one bit. It might just cause me trouble. And now to business," I turned the conversation to the subject of my desires. - I can't give you the mines yet. That's not to say it won't happen in the future, but for now, the sale of Beskar is my main source of income.

- I don't even want to know what you want to do there," the Duchess pretended to be horrified, "your actions reek of the most audacious adventurousness I have ever seen.

- Perhaps," I smiled, "but still, I'm willing to make significant concessions. Besides, my contract with the Corellians makes no provision for possible extraction by third parties. Even by the Mandalorian government.

- So you can give us part of the mine..." Satine frowned slightly. - That's better than nothing, but it won't make any difference.

- That depends on how you look at it. The text of the contract with Corellia implies, first of all, unlimited opportunities to break it. By either side, with or without cause, so we act together in good faith. However, I have no intention of losing such a broad market as KMC. The deposits are larger than any previously discovered on Mandalore, so they won't be completely depleted for centuries to come.

- It depends on the rate of extraction," the Duchess corrected me.

- I have," I smiled softly, "but there's a way out of every problem. In this case, I can revise the contract with KMC, limiting their production to a certain amount. And after some time to break the contract altogether. But, as you can imagine, that would be a serious obstacle to my goals," I hinted again that money was not my goal, and I was willing to compromise if she could give me an alternative way to achieve my goals. And she could - at least technical support and help from people, some resources, including the military, for starters. For Satin, that would be the ideal way out. I hope the Corellians will understand me, as my dealings with them are also part of my path to my goal, but not the goal itself. It was quite realistic to get Mandalore as an ally in addition to KMC. The Duchess got me right:

- What exactly are you suggesting?

- To make a pact. You undertake to give me all possible assistance, support, help with people, including the military, and I, in turn, will severely limit the extraction of Beskar by the Corellians. And give the Mandalorians access to the mines, so you can mine your metal as much as you want. Of course, the Corellians won't be happy, but I think I can negotiate with them.

- What is the format of this "help" you speak of? - Satin squinted. - The wording is rather vague.

- I see, but I don't know exactly what I might need. People. Information. Resources. Technology. Intermediary services," I said with a wave of my hands. - Although I can in turn sign that my demands will not contradict the laws of the Mandalor or the Republic.

- So you want an alliance, is that correct?

- Correct," I smiled. - One thing I can tell you right now. At the moment there is a ship of mine in the shipyards of Corellia that needs a crew. A good crew, preferably vetted men, with no spies among them. And those in whom I will have confidence that they will not betray me, my interests and the interests of my crew. Your warriors fit that description well.

- How many men do you need? - Satin relaxed and leaned back on the couch.

- More than two thousand, exactly.

- I beg your pardon? - Satin was so surprised that even a look of surprise flashed across her face for a moment.

- In her maiden days, my "yacht" was a cruiser, so the crew is over five thousand. Of course, after modernization and partial demilitarization, the crew will be smaller. It will also need to be fitted with concealed weapon systems. But you certainly won't have a problem with that. Of course, I guarantee the salary of the crew and the pay for the equipment and the work of the engineers, - I smiled. - So you can not only save money, you can earn money.

The Duchess snorted. It was understandable-at first glance, the alliance seemed to be a win-win.

- If so, I agree to make an agreement. How shall we formalize it?

- I wouldn't want to make an agreement. If only because it would make it clear that I'm acting in my own interests, not for money.

- Orally? - Satin was surprised.

- Without registration with the Justice, otherwise there's no way. But if we're talking about politics, then documents don't mean that much. Your word of honor would be enough. And I've never heard of Mandalorians being known for deception," I shrugged.

- "Then I accept. - Satine sighed, and we struck a deal, figuratively speaking. I had some not-so-happy news to report to the KMC.

- How much Beskar would you be willing to give to KVMK? - I asked a clarifying question.

- Not more than fifty tons per month.

Given the size of the deposits, it was a crumb, because every month they could theoretically get ten times more.

- Then I'll inform the KMC of my decision. And you can please your subjects. And start exploiting the deposits yourself.

It was practically my gift to Mandalore, but on the other hand, I'd gain a lot for it, too.

- Will you stay a while? - Satine asked, glancing toward the window. - Or do you have to leave?

- Unfortunately Satin, I still have my studies. But if you need to, you can contact me.

She just smirked at that and walked away proudly.