Star Wars : Tanya

( 35 BBY )

Count Dooku and his new padawan stood in silence, looking out the transparisteel windows of the Duchess Palace to the rest of Sundari City. Everywhere men and women went about their daily lives through the window on walkways and roads, like ants following a routine. Sunlight shone down through the city dome, illuminating almost every corner of the city in an off-blue color.

"You think they have a curfew?" Ventress asked. "Imagine trying to sleep, but some slimeball refuses to turn their light off."

"Stop." Dooku's voice was stern.

"...It's just there's no privacy, it's hard to believe they're Mandalorians."

Bass voice rumbling, Dooku turned fully towards her and growled. "Padawan, do a handstand."

Asajj looked up at him, shocked. "What?"

"Was I unclear? Handstand. Now, Padawan."

Asajj swallowed nervously, before doing as instructed. The Serennoan style long black skirt she was wearing would have fallen past her waist if she didn't use the force to suspend it in place. She remained balanced in that position, guided and sustained by the force, but her cheeks burned red with embarrassment.

Dooku eyed her sternly. "You are going to remain in this position until my meeting with the Duchess is complete. Understood?"

"Yes."

"Yes, Master."

Asajj swallowed. "Yes, Master."

"If someone asks you to move from this place, inform them that you are here because you must learn when to hold your tongue."

"Isn't that a little harsh?" A new voice asked them from behind.

Dooku turned to see a young woman, dressed in formal regalia with elaborate headwear of two blue wings sweeping up behind her head starting from a joint at the neck, flowers woven through her hair in rows, and a flat brown tiara that looked more like a skull cap that had a large brown pendant that hung over her forehead. If it wasn't for her absurd outfit she would have been strikingly beautiful with high aristocratic cheekbones, unblemished pale skin, icy blue eyes and platinum blonde hair.

Her outfit was obviously a poorly conceived attempt to distance herself from the traditional garb of Mandalorians, modeled on the style of Republic senators or other elected heads of state, like Naboo or Empress Teta. Perhaps it was intended to mark the beginning of a new tradition in the Mandalore sector, but ultimately all it did was make it seem like Duchess Kryze was ashamed of what she was; a mandalorian, and an autocrat who emerged victorious from a decade-long civil war.

"Duchess Satine." Dooku smiled, and bowed. "I see someone has taught you to shield your mind, or you would not have been able to sneak up on me." Her footsteps were surprisingly quiet, she must have had a good deal of practice.

"You are correct." Satine smiled. "I've heard that you taught my old protector, Master Qui-Gon Jinn."

"I hadn't realized we shared that connection. A small Galaxy, indeed." Dooku looked around at the room they were in. It was a small waiting room containing only a window, a table and some chairs.

"I'm sorry about this environment, I wasn't aware that you were coming." Satine looked around. "In fact, I was so unprepared that I haven't even eaten anything. Would you like to have lunch with me? This is only an informal visit, after all."

Dooku nodded. "Yes, that seems fitting."

"And your apprentice?" Satine glanced past him. "It does seem cruel to leave her like this."

"That depends entirely on her." Dooku glanced back. "Padawan Ventress, the Duchess has kindly offered you a way out of your predicament. Would you accept it, or would you complete your punishment?"

Standing upside down as she was, only the reflection of Asajj's face was visible in the transparisteel window. Her face set in a stubborn line, she grunted out, "Master, I will complete my punishment."

Satine shook her head in bemusement, but acquiesced. As the two of them left the room she murmured, "Jedi are strange indeed."

The two of them were accompanied by her bodyguards, dressed in beskar armor that notably lacked the traditional T-shaped visor. To Dooku they looked more ceremonial than anything else, with blaster tipped pikes and long capes that passed their knees. Compared to the sleek, efficient, and brutal mandalorian mercenaries of Dooku's memories, these royal guards seemed almost like a joke.

They arrived at a private courtyard near the top of the palace, its walls and floors opaque in contrast to everywhere else. Dooku assumed that this was a place built for a bit more comfort and privacy. The Duchess ate a sweet salad prepared by the kitchen, and the Count was offered a similarly vegetarian meal made of some kind of roasted tubers and root plants garnished with a sweet and slightly bitter shredded orange leaf.

"Duchess, if the Jedi are strange then the New Mandalorians defy all expectations." Using a knife and fork, Dooku cut into the tubers.

"I'm pleased you think so." Satine took a sip of wine, and regarded the Count. "So, what is it you wanted to speak about?"

"Jedi recruitment." Dooku explained. "It's been a while since there was a Mandalorian Jedi, and to my understanding, it's because no clan could ever be persuaded to give up its infants. My Temple has a different view on things."

"Different in what way?"

"I think that a more mutually beneficial arrangement is possible for the New Temple. Instead of removing infants from their families and never allowing them to return, there will be an arrangement where the New Temple provides Jedi training to those who would traditionally be seen as too old or too weak in the force by the Temple on Coruscant. Once their training is complete, they return to their homeworld or sector, to the benefit of the people there."

It took Satine a moment to think that through. "That's quite a different way of doing things."

"I envision my temple as less of a… federal security force, and something more localized. We will of course gladly draw in what force sensitive younglings we can to create a strong foundation for all our local branches to call on when they need to, but the day to day work of the Jedi would be managed by something of a local constabulary force.

Instead of being a distant and alien entity that comes to enforce the will of an absent senate, my Jedi will be a part of the local community, and responsive to the needs of local leadership. And their populations."

He waited in silence for her to answer, chewing on his meal and enjoying a sip of wine. The silence lasted so long that he almost wished Qui-Gon hadn't taught her to shield her mind.

It was a trick almost anyone could learn with a bit of focus and dedication, everyone having at least some level of force sensitivity. If the Jedi didn't hoard their knowledge, much of the Galaxy could benefit in minor ways from their teachings. Of course, it did make it harder to read people if they were guarding their thoughts and feelings, such as right now.

Satine seemed to be considering his words very carefully, keeping her face neutral and giving away nothing. Eventually, she finally said, "This is not something the Senate knows about, is it?"

"It's hardly clandestine. Why bother them when they're so willfully blind?" Dooku smiled. "How's your senator doing these days? Is he bringing in much aid for Mandalore's reconstruction?"

Satine was silent once again.

"Duchess, I think you've realized by now as I have that going to the Senate for help is a gamble at best. When fortunate, they won't make a problem worse. Most likely, all you'll be doing is signaling your own weakness to predatory special interests, who will then hungrily encircle you and your people."

"Is that not why you're here?" Satine spoke up, eyes flashing.

"No," Dooku said, firmly. "I'm here to offer you membership in a club… an informal federation of sorts. The Senate has no interest in the needs of the Outer Rim, let alone knowledge of it, and so I've built up a circle of friends, various Barons, Counts, and Dukes.

Together we exchange favors and promises, bypassing the bureaucracy of the Senate and the courts. If your world requires agricultural development we can work it out, if you need manpower for construction we can find a way.

If you need security but can't raise a Defense Force lest the organization of radical pacifists who put you in power decide to remove you, well… That can be arranged."

...

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