Chapter 42

"So you're saying that the Black Sun Syndicate you have almost openly had issues with for the past 3 years being attacked has nothing to do with you?" Master Fay asked, nearly faltering with her signature smile

"Yep," Jial answered indifferently while he sipped his tea

"And the fact that one of the sites that was attacked involved 17 Jedi in the attack that ran away with the loot when they wouldn't even care about any loot?" Master Fay kept pressuring him

"Wow. Those Jedi must have been pretty poor," Jial teased

"Indeed. Funnily enough, you also have a number of Force-sensitive members under you that could reach that many in numbers."

"Wow. Such a coincidence," Jial feigned surprise

Master Fay let out a sigh while she held her head and tried to stave off the headache that was quickly coming on. 

It was obvious to the Jedi and anyone watching who had done it, including the Black Sun. If Jial had simply sent in droids and other non-Force-sensitive, then he may have been able to blame the Hutts or some other group. But when he involved Force-sensitives, it made it obvious that it was him. No other organization with this many force-sensitives had an issue with the Black Sun.

"Why are you lying?" Master Fay asked directly

"Cause it's fun to see a Jedi lose their composure. Especially you, Master Fay. You always seem so confident and composed whenever you visit our little town" Jial admitted to her

The Jedi had visited Lok several times over the past few years but eventually, they only sent Master Fay or Master Yoda. Every other Jedi ended up getting fed up and nearly fighting with the forces of the Yautja. These two were the only ones who could maintain their composure with Jial when they had to deal with his constant lies and stonewalling techniques. 

"Why did you guys do it?" Master Fay asked

"Like you said, it has pretty much been an open secret that we are in conflict. There have been nearly a hundred assassination attempts on our top brass as well as sabotage attempts on our factories.

This was a warning as well as an attack to weaken them. If they want to stop now, we are also willing to stop. If they want to press forward, we can fight it out with them."

And Jial truly meant it. If the Black Sun were willing to end it there, he was fine with letting the matter be settled. War was never good for anyone involved. Although he was sure that he could fight them on even grounds, that meant he would be losing some of his forces in the battles. 

"I'll pass that back on to the Jedi Order. Please, just don't frame the Jedi again. We have been having to deal with the backlash from the less informed," Master Fay knew that she couldn't stop what was going to happen next but she still had to ask him to keep the Jedi out of it. The Jedi were peacekeepers but they couldn't get involved in every dispute that occurred around the Galaxy. 

"No problem. Anything else will be either open combat or nothing at all," Jial assured her. The Jedi thing was just to make the Vigos let their guard down so Nott's group could enter easily. 

Master Fay waved him goodbye before walking back into the city to reach the spaceport so she could make her report back to the Jedi Council. She just wasn't sure how many of them would want to put some type of punishment on the Yautja for impersonating Jedi. 

With Master Fay gone, Jial called the others to the room to discuss the war plans. Although he was sure that the Black Sun would retreat temporarily, there was no way that they would back down completely. The war was coming. The only question was if Jial had to be on Lok when it happened or if he could take the fight to them. 

--- Coruscant ---

Master Fay returned to Coruscant to speak with the Jedi High Council herself. The group was trying to decide whether or not to intervene in the battle between the Yautja and Black Sun, with many in favor of it. Only Master Yoda and Yaddle opposed joining in the fight. 

Master Fay pushed through the doors of the High Council Chamber, interrupting the current meeting. 

"Apologies, fellow Masters," Master Fay gave a slight bow once she was past the doors. Two yellow lightsabers were pointed at her throat from the Jedi Temple Guards.

Temple Guards were the hidden power that the Jedi used to protect themselves against invasion. After the numerous times that the temple had been assaulted, the Jedi decided that they needed a standing force that could help protect the temple in times of emergency or in case other Jedi were off-world on missions. 

They were loyal to the Jedi High Council above all else, not even showing mercy to Master Fay. It was not until they got a nod from Yoda that the guards sheathed their blades before returning to the shadows.

"Interrupted the meeting, you have. A purpose, we hope it brings," Yoda greeted Master Fay while warning her of the dangerous waters that she was treading 

"Indeed, I do, Master Yoda," Master Fay knew that what she was doing was reckless but she could not let the Jedi get involved in the matter between Jial and the Underlord. "I came to remind the Jedi High Council of the Mandalorian Excision and why the Jedi cannot be involved once more."

The Mandalorian Excision could be called nothing short of a genocide that the Jedi initiated. After having battled the Mandalorians several times in the past, with one of those times having them almost defeating the Republic, there was a great fear that they would do it again. After the Ruusan Reformations, the Mandalorians began growing in power once more. Although they showed no signs of attacking anyone, their refusal to join the Republic made the Jedi worried another war would occur soon. 

So they urged the Republic to lead a preemptive assault on Mandalorian Space. They led assaults on every planet that the Mandalorians claimed as their own, driving them off of them with bombings and raids until they were forced back to Mandalore where the Republic continued bombing the planet until the majority of it was a wasteland where nothing would ever grow again. The Mandalorians finally surrendered and joined the Republic while being forced to disarm themselves and have their territory constantly monitored. 

Countless Mandalorians were killed due to this attempt to beat them into submission. Although the pacifist minority of the Mandalorians rose up to power, it also created the terrorist group of Mandalorians known as Death Watch that was devasting that Galaxy.

Master Fay wanted to remind them that they had killed many innocents during that war for no reason other than the Mandalorians' refusal to submit to the Republic. They got started a battle with no proof that it would occur. 

Their wanting to get involved with the Yautja who may be battling with the Black Sun Syndicate was none of their concern. Even if the two sides got into conflict, there was no proof that innocents would be harmed.

"Master Jial has already proven with his previous attacks that he can handle this matter without getting civilians involved. I must urge the Council to be careful with this matter," Master Fay pleased, not wanting innocent Jedi to die in a fight that was not their concern