"What do you think, Master, will the negotiations lead to a peaceful resolution of the conflict?" asked a tall young man of about eighteen, with large grey eyes and ash-blond hair braided into a long, thin plait on one side — the traditional distinguishing mark of a Jedi apprentice, or Padawan, as the Order called them.
"I think it is necessary to study the conflict thoroughly first and only then think about how to resolve it, choosing the best approach," replied the second Jedi, a tall, broad-shouldered man of the Kel Dor race, His face was half hidden by a breathing mask, which he never took off because of the atmosphere, which did not suit him. His robe was not beige like his apprentice's, but dark brown. The eyes not hidden by the mask were silver-black and revealed a kind and responsive soul, always ready to help everyone.
"But we were sent here to resolve the conflict, not to investigate it. This will cause problems in the near future," objected the apprentice, impatiently tugging at his braid.
"Think about the future, but not at the expense of the present, my young student," said the mentor gently but firmly, making it clear that the situation was under control. The student had no intention of calming down, unlike his teacher, as he was not at all sure that the negotiations with the Trade Federation's Vice-King, Nuto Ganrey, would go smoothly and that he would voluntarily agree to lift the blockade ring around the planet Naboo, which he had imposed without warning. This Neimoidian had already caused enough bloodshed in the Republic and had no intention of backing down until it agreed to play by his rules. To force him to reconsider his views, the Jedi Council sent two adepts: Jedi Master Plo Koon and his Padawan, Phil Eleott. He did so after being approached by Senator Kos Palpatine of Naboo, who asked him to help his people. And now these two secretly hired Jedi had landed on this green planet, rich in lakes and waterfalls, and slowly, trying not to miss a sound, approached the viceroy's palace. At the entrance, they were met by a guard — a tall, broad-shouldered stranger who instantly took an interest in the visitors, eyeing them suspiciously and with obvious hostility, realising that these people were clearly not here to celebrate another victory and rejoice in the humiliation of ordinary citizens.
"We are Jedi. We have come here to make peace," replied Master Plo calmly, holding the guard's gaze. The guard was clearly satisfied with the answer and, breaking into a satisfied smile, made a broad gesture with his hand towards a long corridor:
"Welcome, peacemakers, we have been waiting for you for a long time! Go to the meeting room, my boss will come down to you.
From the outside, as from the inside, the viceroy's palace looked pompous and was simultaneously striking in its disgusting tastelessness and oppressive luxury. It combined all the architectural styles available today and mixed them in incomprehensible proportions, presenting the world with a wild mess that was not only striking in its incredible number of ingredients, but also poorly mixed. Simply put, in his eagerness to show the public how well he lived, the owner chose the most luxurious and pretentious elements of each style and, without giving it much thought, plastered them all over his home. He didn't even consider whether they went together or how they would look. No, these thoughts did not occupy Ganrey's mind in the slightest. The main thing was that people could see how powerful he was and that with his money, it was better to cooperate with him. And so, in his palace, gilded stucco mouldings and a high-tech lamp made of bent tubes coexisted peacefully on the same square metre. A pink marble fountain and a touch-screen control panel. Carved window frames and modern plastic double-glazed windows. Snow-white columns and square gates made of metal and stone. The paintings on the walls resembled a party in the house of a tipsy madman. Peaceful landscapes of Naboo and battle scenes from the wars with the Sith. Portraits of political figures and animals, sometimes grazing peacefully in a field, sometimes playing with each other. Panoramas of planets and naked girls. In short, run away from here if you don't want to go mad. The Jedi obviously thought the same thing, or very close to it, exchanging meaningful glances before entering the meeting room, where they were seated at the table with all honours and given a glass of refreshment, then left to wait for Ganrey.
"I can imagine who he'll send to send us away, if not to the other world," Eleot said sceptically, taking a sip from his glass.
"The Neymodians are cowards, the negotiations will be short," his teacher replied, looking encouragingly at his pupil. He loved this boy like a son and often worried about his excessive suspiciousness.
"That same suspiciousness, by the way, has saved all our lives more than once," Phil invariably replied when Ploy occasionally brought up the subject. He did not know that at that very moment, one floor above, their fate was being decided very easily and quickly.
"Mr. Ganrey," said the guard anxiously, rushing into his master's chambers and forgetting even to bow out of excitement. "What should we do? Two Jedi have infiltrated our quarters. What should we do?"
"What could be simpler, my friend," said the tall Neimoidian with green skin, dressed in an irritating red robe that suited him about as well as the furnishings in his house, on one of which a large sofa with a heavy mahogany backrest inlaid with multicoloured stones, on which he was reclining, directly on top of a soft cover of a nauseating yellow colour "perfectly matching the decor and style." "Kill them!" he said, without even bothering to get up or let go of the glass of white wine in his hand.
"Yes, my lord," no one even thought to argue or object. The viceroy's orders were not discussed, but carried out. Immediately and without sentiment. After all, the reward was appropriate, for example, a pretty little stone that had fallen out of the back of the sofa...
"He may have cowardice in abundance, but he doesn't have a penny's worth of politeness! How long are you going to keep us waiting?" Phil fidgeted in his seat. His glass had long been empty, and his ponytail was twisted around his finger for the tenth time, if not more.
"You're absolutely right, my student," replied Plow, pointing to the opposite wall and freezing as if waiting for something, his right hand on his belt where his sword was. And just in time, because before the teacher could finish his sentence, a secret door opened in the wall, or rather, part of the wall simply slid aside, and several state-of-the-art combat droids rushed into the room and started shooting without warning. The teacher and student, however, were not asleep and, activating their swords, blue and light green, took up fighting stances and began to repel the shots, sometimes, purely for entertainment, sending the charges back at the shooters, causing the droids to explode on the spot. And as soon as they noticed a gap in the passage, they broke free, running across a green field with carefully and very timely mowed grass. The droids rushed after them, taking a dozen or two of their comrades with them.
"You were right about one thing, teacher," Eleot shouted as he ran, swinging his sword away from himself and impaling his metal enemies on it.
"I wonder what that is," asked Plo, unsuspecting, while fending off the droids that were closing in on him.
"The negotiations were short," Phil replied calmly and smiled before his teacher was suddenly knocked down and pinned under a strange creature. It was tall, the same height as Phil, who was over 180 centimetres tall, with yellow-beige skin and long ears that flapped every minute, and a mouth that seemed unable to close for even a second.
"My love is yours! I love you very much!" said the strange new acquaintance in a loud, slightly squeaky voice, getting up from the Magister, but without even thinking to help him up, although this was not necessary. Plo easily got up on his own, praising the Great Power that had created him.
"Who are you?" Eleot asked, examining the strange creature, but the latter apparently felt it was his duty to express his gratitude first:
"You saved me! I love you," he repeated, hugging the Master with his thin, leathery paws and kissing him loudly right on the mask, and only then did he consider it possible to introduce himself: "My name is Jar Jar Binks. Ouch! Let's go boom! A very big boom! Mine and yours, leave immediately!
And without wasting any more time, but without stopping his chatter, Binks led the Jedi towards a nearby lake, and before anyone could understand what was happening, he dived in, waving his hand to his companions to follow him:
"The underwater city of the Gungans," he said and disappeared under the water. That's how both Jedi understood who the Force had brought them face to face with. Thinking for less than a second, no longer giving the droids a chance, they put portable breathing devices in their mouths, put away their swords, and rushed after the Gungan. Inside this lake, or more precisely beneath its bottom, lay a whole world, not too large, but living as a separate state that did not consider itself a Republic or anything else, as its ruler — a very fat and gloomy Gungan dressed in a colourful robe generously decorated with sequins and a similar cap on his large, elongated head, obviously intended to represent a crown.
"This is my home, my fortress," Jar Jar explained with a smile before the three of them entered the ruler's palace. It was smaller than Ganrey's, but no less luxurious or tasteless. Only instead of marble and metals, many of which cannot withstand water, the palace was built of corals of different colours and strange shells, woven together, some of them sparkling with pearls, or rather, those that the little Gungans, the ruler's children, had not managed to tear off and put in their mouths. the ruler's children. These pearls had replaced their earthly pacifiers since time immemorial. Binks rushed into the throne room and threw himself at the fat boss, wanting to hug him and show his joy at the meeting, which the fat man, however, did not reciprocate.
"How dare you show up here, Binks?" he said harshly, pushing his friendly companion away. "You were expelled from our country. Guards! Grab him!"
"Wait, wait!" Binks waved his arms, begging them to stop and let him explain. "My friends are in great danger! Help them, my lord!"
"You have five minutes," replied the fat man, still cold and indifferent. "Who did you bring to my palace?"
The teacher and his student stepped forward and bowed politely, after which Master Plo spoke first:
"Greetings, ruler. We are Jedi, guardians of peace in the galaxy. We have been sent to help the planet Naboo by lifting the blockade of the Trade Federation. Its viceroy has refused a peaceful resolution, and now we need help.
The ruler listened, and as soon as the Master fell silent, he sneered contemptuously and spat out:
"I don't give a damn about your Naboo! I'm not going to fight with your lands! And this chatterbox will go to prison immediately for daring to come here, and even bringing suspicious individuals with him.
"That's right," said Phil. "You're not obliged to help us, because we're nobody to you, but imagine what will happen if the Trade Federation reaches the underwater city. Think about what will happen to your people then. And I feel that it won't be long before that happens.
The fat man fell silent for a long time, turning his fat-clogged brain over the pros and cons. But one thing was clear: the young man's words had made him reconsider many things.
"You've convinced me," he said at last. "I'll give you the ship. And this one," he pointed at Binks, "will regret very much that he dared to disobey my orders not to show up here!
"What will happen to him?" asked Plow, feeling compassion for this clumsy but obviously kind and simple-minded gungan.
"Most likely, death!" replied the fat king harshly, causing Binks to gasp in fear and jump back against the wall. "I am merciless to violators!"
"Listen," said the Magister calmly. "I saved his life, and now it belongs to me. I'm taking him with me."
"With my best wishes! He's no treasure to me," the ruler waved his hand dismissively, giving his permission. "The ship is near the palace, and you can disembark where you boarded. Go ahead!"
The ship offered turned out to be nothing like the palace, simple and not new, but, according to the ruler, it worked as well as his stomach.
"Yes, it looks like it has a perforated ulcer," Phil smiled, starting the engine, which immediately began to spit sparks.
"Jar Jar," asked Plo to the silent gunman, unable to believe his luck. "Why were you banished from your home country?"
"For clumsiness," Binks replied without embarrassment. "I dropped a cup on His Majesty's foot!"
They would have laughed, but a huge fish swam up from under the ship and latched onto the bow, dragging it along behind it.
"Well, well!" Eleot chuckled, looking at the underwater wonder. "I don't think we ordered an escort!"
"Don't worry, Phil, there's always bigger fish," Plo reassured him, confident that this would be the case. And indeed, from another whirlpool, sensing prey, a golden fish with large scales flew out, almost as big as the ship, and certainly bigger than the first fish, whose stomach was perfectly suited to its size. But the poor ship still managed to get damaged, with three of its four engines and several other important parts damaged. It could still fly, but it wouldn't last long without repairs.
"Set course for Tatooine," Plo ordered his apprentice as soon as they took to the sky.
"Why there?" Phil asked, already in battle mode.
"That poor little planet. It's not under the influence of the Trade Federation," the teacher began to explain. "We'll be able to find the parts we need and repair the ship there.
"Why hasn't the Federation gone there?" asked the curious apprentice, but he set the course anyway.
"It's controlled by the Hutts," came the laconic reply. In fact, there was another reason for flying there, and Plo wasn't sure whether to tell Eleot about it. A powerful disturbance in the Force enveloped the Master as they entered the Arcanis system and approached Tatooine. This happened when something important was about to happen. Or had already happened... Who knows? Only the Force knew the answer.
***
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