"Max, you're not asleep?"
"I'm watching you. Didn't want to close my eyes."
Lisa didn't sleep until evening. A little after four—nearing five—she woke up. Normally, she'd get up, wash up, eat, then do her makeup and get dressed, and it'd be about time to head to work. Today, she didn't have to work—so what was she supposed to do?
She was full of anticipation, but she didn't even know what she was anticipating. Then, by her ear, she heard the man's low, magnetic voice:
"Lisa… wanna go up into the sky?"
"Ah—" Last night's memories surged back. Lisa blushed, lowered her head, then looked up at Max again. She bit her lip and nodded hard. "Mm!"
"Sein," Max called into the comm, "get the Kom'rk ready."
Then he turned back to Lisa and invited her, "Still early. Let's take my big bird up for a spin."4
...
"Lisa—was your father in Judicial Forces service?"
Only after boarding the Kom'rk-class craft and reaching space did Max dare to ask Lisa about the Blade Fleet—the thing he couldn't get out of his head. Walls had ears. He wasn't about to let what should've been his own windfall get snatched away by someone else.
Ever since arriving on Coruscant, the Cloud City had been continuously pulling data off the Coruscant net—downloading everything to the ship first, then running local searches onboard.
Putting together the scraps Cloud City turned up, plus Lisa's account of her father, Max could basically confirm that the Blade Fleet existed in this world.
"Lisa," Max took her hand and looked her in the eyes, speaking seriously, "I'll do everything I can to find your father. I promise."
"Max…" Lisa dove into his arms and started sobbing.
"Alright, alright. Don't cry, don't cry." Max held her and patted her back gently. Wealthy conditions, plus the heavy debt of finding her lost father… that should be enough to tether a swallow, right? he thought.
That night, the two of them had dinner in a private room at the Manarai restaurant. Those private rooms were usually booked out—Max and Lisa used the one the Republic Five Hundred Building reserved for top-floor suite guests.
"I've only ever been somewhere like this in my dreams!" Lisa looked around the private room, thrilled.
"It's… fine. The food doesn't taste that much better than the barbecue stalls on Level 1313." Max put on airs—this was his second time at Manarai. "Eat here a few more times and you'll stop having dreams that boring."
"Max," Lisa asked cautiously, "it's… really expensive to eat here, right?"
"Eh—pocket change, pocket change." Max waved it off lightly. "What other places did you always want to go but never got to? Tomorrow and the day after—we'll go together."
But plans never survive reality. The next morning, just as Max was about to head out and take his girl shopping, he got a call from Aayla Secura—The Jedi High Council wanted him back at the Jedi Temple.
"Stay in the room and wait for me. I'll go and come right back," Max said apologetically.
"Mm. Go handle your work first." Lisa's eyes were full of reluctance.
"Chris," Max called into the comm, "same as last time—bring the blade, armor up, no blasters. Meet in my room."
"Yes, Commander."
Caution kept you alive. Max didn't lower his guard just because the Jedi Order had shown goodwill.
This time, what the Jedi brought him was unexpected—though, in truth, it made perfect sense.
"Vizsla, sir. The New Mandalorian government has delivered an official note to the Jedi Order, requesting an explanation regarding the rumors that we intend to transfer Tarre Vizsla's armor to you, and they've stated their demands as well."1
Inside the meeting room, Master Adi Gallia explained the situation to Max.4
The New Mandalorians' position was that Tarre Vizsla's armor carried immense meaning for Mandalorians—practically a sacred relic. If such a relic were handed to the warrior faction, it would, in a sense, amount to granting them legitimacy to rule Mandalore—splitting Mandalore.
They argued that if the Jedi Order truly planned—just as the rumors claimed—to transfer Tarre Vizsla's armor to Vizsla descendants, then it should be transferred to a Vizsla within the New Mandalorians, not to Max Vizsla, a warrior-faction hardliner.
"Then give it to them," Max agreed readily.
"Commander?!" Christopher Wren blurted out despite himself.
"Then give it to them," Max repeated. "For Mandalore, and for peace in the galaxy, we can make concessions."
"Vizsla, sir—The Jedi High Council and the Jedi Order salute you." Master Adi Gallia bowed with solemn respect. "I will convey your stance to the New Mandalorian government and Duchess Satine. May the Force be with us."
In his previous life, before he crossed over, Max had been an engineering major—but the kind who loved military history. He knew the truth of turbulent eras: rulership went either to the one with the strongest forces, or to the one who held the people's hearts. It wasn't as if getting your hands on a royal seal automatically granted you "legitimate" rule.8
He planned to hold an assembly and explain that to the brothers and sisters of the Mandalorian armed forces.
In fact, Max was happy to accept the New Mandalorians' demand for another reason—one that wasn't convenient to say out loud.
A "Vizsla" on the New Mandalorian side and Max Vizsla were two completely different propositions. If Tarre Vizsla's armor stayed in the Jedi Temple—or in Max Vizsla's hands—Pre Vizsla might not dare to move recklessly.
But if Tarre Vizsla's armor ended up in the hands of that New Mandalorian-side Vizsla… Pre Vizsla would, one hundred percent, go seize it.1
Tarre Vizsla's set—whether in coverage or functionality—was nowhere near as good as the armor Pre Vizsla was used to wearing. If Pre Vizsla swapped into Tarre's armor, then in future "sparring" between brothers, Max would gain yet another advantage.
(If I'm the one who drops my "big brother"… Lady Bo-Katan Kryze, you won't have any excuse to flip sides, right?) Max thought.
............................
PS: The Holonet that gets mentioned so often in Star Wars isn't a true galaxy-wide internet. It's closer to a galaxy-spanning broadcast platform—like television.1
The first truly internet-like galaxy-wide network in the Star Wars setting was built during the Galactic Empire era: the Imperial computer network, Imperial Compulink, created when the Imperial Intelligence Sector Plexus integrated planetary local networks within Imperial territory.3
PPS: Master Adi Gallia is Tholothian. Her father was a senior Corellian diplomat. The "tendrils" on Adi Gallia's head are not an organ—they're a headpiece.
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🛡️🔥🌌 STAR WARS: THE RISE OF MANDALORE 🌌🔥🛡️
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🚨 FOR MANDALORE! 🚨
The clans are stirring.
The armor remembers.
And Mandalore will rise again.
Star Wars: The Rise of Mandalore has 100+ chapters ahead available right now on Patreon! ⚔️🔥
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🛡️ THIS IS MORE THAN A STORY OF SURVIVAL
⚔️ Mandalorian warriors🔥 Clan warfare🚀 Galactic conflict🌌 Star Wars worldbuilding👑 Power & leadership💥 Massive battles🛡️ The resurgence of Mandalore
The galaxy has seen Mandalore shattered before.
But broken does not mean defeated.
🔥 A people forged in war can rise from the ashes.
And Patreon readers are already 100+ chapters ahead watching it happen.
👉 Join Patreon and witness Mandalore's resurgence long before the public release!
This is the way.
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