Plea for justice

[Kant]

Validus walked swiftly into the chambers. He was to meet members of the Jedi high council to discuss the possible protection of a bounty hunter. This bounty hunter had done his duty well, and was a friend to the Jedi cause, and now, his life was being threatened for it. Validus had great faith in the Jedi, and in the council in particular. He believed firmly that the council was just and would protect this man from the forces of evil that now hunted him. If the Jedi were to help him, he doubted that the Mandolorians would even attempt to kill Earlich Mar. If they did he had no absolutely no doubts about the outcome. The Mandolorians would be slaughtered. He had thought over what he was to say many times before. He had planned and replanned his speech. Now it was to be performed. He reached the stairs and mounted them quickly. He was still naught but an acolyte, it was true, but he was a champion for those who were being abused everywhere and feared not for his own safety. He did not hope for any personal gain at all in the matter. After all, it was what any good Jedi would do. Plus, the low level workers are what make any organization great. He reached the top of the stairs and knocked on the outer door. He would wait for there reply. And for the meeting to be started.

 

[Ehrlich Mar]

Some might be pleased by the relative peace that had settled between the Chiss Ascendancy and the Mandalorian Separatist movement. Earlich Mar was not one of those people. He hated quiet, and for good reason; when everything is still and peaceful, troubles are made noticeable. And if there was one thing that could be said about Earlich Mar, it was that he was trouble. Not that he had any intention of being so, mind you; it's just that his actions tended to send unanticipated ripples of discord throughout society. Trouble had dogged him since he had slain Kandosii Marren, a Mandalorian officer, and since that time he had been waiting in the Chiss Ascendancy for the matter to blow over.

But for whatever reason, it hadn't. In fact, it had only escalated since his departure. If Mar could have made himself useful to the Chiss (or been allowed to, for that matter) while the war was still raging, he would have wreaked endless mayhem upon the Mandalorians, sealing his place among the Chiss and ultimately ensuring his safety. Now, however, sweet serenity had come along like a powerful bathroom product to clean up Mar's bloodshed, and in the process, it revealed the source of the mess. It seemed to the Duro that no internal strife or conflict would keep the Mandos off of his tail any longer.

Mar had intended to get back to business some time ago, but the general stillness about him and his reward from the bounty on Ms. Marren had afforded him the opportunity to kick back his feet and enjoy the tranquility. He had done so beautifully for a time; he often congratulated himself on his grand escape over a glass of fire-water, grinning to himself as a reward for a job well done. Yet as each glass of sweet liquor burned his throat so tenderly, he was reminded that all of his bridges lay smoldering behind him, and that the trail of his actions was not yet cold. If he could get away, just to one or two more systems, maybe he could finally be rid of this nagging suspicion that he was no longer the hunter in this game of cat and mouse.

So he packed his bags. The Chiss had been good to him as far as it was their part to play, but their usefulness had all but run its course, and the time had come for him to depart. Still, there was one last favor he had to ask before he set out on his way.

Not of the Chiss, of course; Mar had no intention whatsoever to repay Chiss society for their tolerance of his presence. In fact, the group of which he spoke had barely any Chiss in it at all. It was for that very reason that Mar turned to this new patron, free of Mandalorians, Chiss, Sith, and every other dogmatic organization that hounded his every footstep. He now turned to the one organization that he had not yet alienated: the Galactic Alliance.

It took surprisingly little time to load all of Mar's worldly possessions onto his Deepwater freighter; for a man of his wealth, he owned surprisingly little. As he reclined upon his trusty pilot seat, it creaked contentedly."I know," he sighed. "It's good to be back." The chair bobbed pleasantly in agreement. Swiveling impressively in his seat, Mar activated his communications relay. "Dogg, mate! I need to ask a favor of ye. I need to bounce a hologram off of you and a few of your mates if you can manage it; I don't want to be traced, y'see. Mum's the word, eh?"

 

[Captain Flynn]

The silvery image of a reclining canine alien materializes before Earlich Mar, a deathstick in one hand and a beverage in another. He chokes in surprise, hacking and spluttering as he douses its burning tip in his drink. "Mar!" he wheezes, "Warn me next time you decide to just pop out of nowhere! My ticker aint what it used to be....*COUGH COUGH* Bounce a what? A *cough* hologram? Yeah, mate. Whatever you want."
His hand melts away as it reaches beyond the hologram's parameters before growing back again. "Alright, it's done. Ciao dog...."
With that, he lights a new deathstick, vanishing in a cloud of smoke before disappearing altogether.

 

[Ehrlich Mar]

"Thanks stud, 'preciate it," said Mar, gruffly. The signal was sent; he simply had to wait for the Jedi to respond.

 

[GABA]

The sun now shown through the wide spanning view of the windows of the Coruscant council chambers. They automatically tinted and adjusted to the glowing rays, though Sigur didn’t mind now, only when they became invasive to his eyesight and to those who stood audience in the chambers. He waited for the arrival of a Jedi Knight and Sigur assumed the bounty hunter would make an appearance also.

It was peculiar to him especially a bounty hunter seeking assistance from the Jedi, but then again, the bounty hunters he worked with were almost fifty-fifty when it came to the trust of a Jedi. He had not encountered a bounty hunter since his days with the Coruscant Security Forces and to an extent it brought back some nostalgic memories that he was quite fond of.

Knight Voluntas had given Sigur a quick brief upon request of a meeting with the Jedi council as well as the identity of the bounty hunter that was to be arriving with him. He gave a notice to flight hangers to allow in the bounty hunter’s ship, information from what Knight Vountas had described that is and hopefully there would not be trouble.

Sigur felt a presence approaching just beyond the council doors and a small knock alerted him to his physical arrival. He welcomed in the Jedi knight, and frowned when he did not see the bounty hunter.

“Good day Validus Voluntas.” He greeted before continuing, “I am ready to listen, however,” he made an obvious nod to the lack of another individual, “It would be most helpful if we had Earlich Mar with us. I want to hear why, including your reasons, but his reasons the Jedi should assist him.”

 

[Kant]

Validus was relieved when the door was opened to him. He saw the council sitting before him, this was his big chance to do something that really mattered. He looked around the large bright room nervously, it was quite a sight to see. It was very impressive with huge windows and the open room. He noticed many very famous Jedi gathered there, men who were much better at what they did than Validus would ever be. He took just a moment to gather his thoughts and prepare himself, and then began to present his case.

Validus bowed to the council and spoke, “good day sir, and thank you all for taking the time to meet with me. I came here today to ask you to help me in protecting and offer official protection and, if possible, safe haven to, a bounty hunter named Earlich Mar. This seems highly unusual I know, but I will explain why this should be done in just a moment. Earlich cannot be here with us right now because he is in the process of fleeing for his life from those who chase him. He will, however, be sending in a hologram to explain some of his case to us in person. Earlich Mar’s story as it relates to us begins with the hunt of one of our enemies: an influential Mandalorian by the name of Kandosii Marren.

This woman was our enemy and the enemy to all who love justice and good. She was a killer and a wicked woman who showed absolutely no sympathy or mercy to anyone. She was known for always encouraging more war and fighting, she opposed peace and justice. Mar killed her and received a bounty for it. This was an improvement, he showed that wickedness should not be tolerated and would be put to an end. Mar’s eventual target was the Mandalore himself, a man who is wicked and abusive to his people. The Mandalorians themselves are a warrior people who live to kill and prey upon those weaker themselves. They oppose everything that we have fought so hard for. Mar, an honorable bounty hunter was merely seeking out a wicked individual in order to bring him to justice, and to make a tidy profit in the process, but such is his business. However, the Mandalorians did not see it that way. The Mandalorians began to hunt Earlich Mar and continue to do so to this day. They are right now chasing after him in an attempt to take his life. He needs protection in order to continue to live safely. We, as Jedi, should not allow those who work for justice to be harassed and killed for it. This man of honor should be protected by us."

Validus thought his speech was going well. "now" he thought, "it is time to transition and allow Mar to speak for himself". Again Validus began to speak. "Now, we will hear from Earlich Mar himself" with that he walked over to the holoprojector and turned it on. He waited to hear what Mar would say.

 

[Ehrlich Mar]

As the projector flickered to life, the head of a duros bounty hunter appeared, glowing and floating like a ghostly apparition. His face was largely obscured by a wide, antiquated hat, which shrouded his eyes in shadow. His mouth was grave and lined, as though he had taken little sleep. The face surveyed the assembled council carefully before its raspy, double-toned voice echoed around the chambers. "Well hullo, do-gooders," said Mar with a sneer. "I had spoken with your man...mmmm...what's his name, validus or someat...a few days ago. Quite by chance of course. I have a bounty on my head, y'see, and after hearing my story, your Jedi took pity on my plight, n' so I'm appealing to you lot of sophists in the hopes that someone among you could ensure me safe passage on my way to the inner territories. Now I know that wanted men are not welcome on Coruscant, don't misunderstand me, and I wager that you'll have questions of your own before I enter your territories. Know this: I'll answer any of 'em if it'll help smooth over this transition."

 

[GABA]

It was an unusual request, something the council did not see too often. Though for Sigur, this was something he never heard too often. He listened carefully to the Jedi Knight, he could tell Validus had prepared himself for the argument of protection for this bounty hunter, but curiosity stuck the Jedi Master in how the two of them had met in the first place. Nevertheless, he listened and the Knight made some good points, but he wanted to hear what Bounty Hunter Mar had to say.

Validus introduced him as the holoprojector’s static disrupted the image as a large Duro’s head appeared in the council chambers. Sigur pressed a button on his seat causing the lights to dim and the shutters to cover the windows from intruding sunlight as the messenger spoke.

Sigur remained silent for a moment searching for where to start as many questions begun circling in his head. The tug of the Force lead him to filter out some of his more general questions that could wait until a later time, leaving still a handful for him to ask.

“Kandosii Marren was a well known name and still is. I believe the Holonet reported her body was found on Corellia.” He said, mostly for his own clarification of who the bounty victim was, “Now Bounty Hunter Mar, I would suspect in order to assassinate such an influential individual you would have had to be quite experienced yourself. You probably either yourself or others followed where she ate, where she slept, who she enjoyed in company, but you would have known with someone with such power, there would be those who would avenge for her death.” Sigur explained, his eyes falling onto the large Duro’s head.

“I am also certain you are not the first bounty hunter that has these repercussions in which vengeance would be a side effect to gaining a name and some credits. Why should the Jedi grant you these permissions above anyone else who may have faced a similar situation?” he asked.

 

[Ehrlich Mar]

The Duro sucked his teeth dryly; the question was a fair one, and it was one of the few questions that hadn't yet passed through his mind. However, after a moment's repose, Mar uttered his retort.

"I can think of a small myriad of reasons as to why tha' should let me into your territories without a fuss, Jedi. One reason is that tha' can't afford to make an enemy of me, now can ye'? I've wrecked the Mando's from the inside out, and I can do the same to thee, so it's in your best interest to make a friend out of me. Another good reason is that I can do the same for ye' that I did for the Ascendancy; I'm a privateer, if you will, and I have no qualm offering my services to the man who says 'mother may I'.

"In addition, I'm the one trailing Mandalorian separatists all around the galaxy. As though I'm not the perfect bait every other warring party is looking for? You seem to misunderstand our positions in this game, Jedi. I don't technically *need* protecting; I've survived thus far and I can continue doing so on m'own. From the way I see things, I hold all the chips. I'm giving ye' first refusal.

"Now I'm not in a debating mood; if you have any fears that I can lay to rest, name 'em and I'll do so. My integrity, my usefulness and my worthiness, are not in question here."

The hologram narrowed its eyes searchingly. Perhaps matter-of-factness and steely determination would be sufficient to sway the masters. But Mar doubted it.

 

[GABA]

Sigur rubbed his chin in thought. He wasn’t a gambling man, however, an opportunity has presented itself. His eyes flickered to the Jedi Knight and then back again to the hologram head that continued to float in the room. Sigur adjusted himself in his seat, sitting up a little straighter.

“The Galactic Alliance could use someone of your talents, I cannot disagree with that. If you agree to join, say as civilian, then I can guarantee a steady pay and we’ll have your back if anything comes up. If you have any warrants here in the GA then you can have them pardoned by committing your services to various acts of training to our soldiers. This all depending on what your charges are, but nevertheless, a good offer to gain a clean slate.“ Sigur paused and thought back on his own words, then continued, “How does that sound?”

Sigur folded his fingers in his lap and waited for the bounty hunter’s response.

 

[Ehrlich Mar]

The Duro chewed his lip momentarily, and it was clear that he was making last-minute calculations.

"I'll want a private, secure place of residence prepared by the time of my arrival, which should be in two days approximately. I'll need anonymity, negotiable wages, and a guarantee that my talents will be put to use. Provided that those conditions are met, we have a deal, Jedi."

Mar smiled; for the first time in many weeks, things were starting to look brighter.

 

[GABA]

Sigur studied the Duro hologram head as spoke his terms and the Jedi listened.

"A deal it is." the councilor then replied, "On behalf of the Jedi and the Galactic Alliance we look forward to working together." He rose from his seat standing in front of the floating head and the Jedi Knight. "I'll send the information with Knight Voluntas, who will meet you with the information you will need as well as paperwork. Other than that is there anything else?" he asked looking at the Jedi Knight and then to the Duro bounty hunter.

 

[Ehrlich Mar]

"As far as I am concerned, naw," said the hologram, blankly. "I'll be on Coruscant at the time I specified. 'Til then, Jedi."

And the apparition disappeared.