Governor's Gambit - Star Wars SI into Imperial Governor

[ElimGarakovsky12]

Note that I am not trying to argue the MC is morally right, but rather that any assertion that he is monster, psychopath and/or sociopath is overblown or dissengenius. If he is guilty, then it's of a banal evil he is guilty for.

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Right, as I said in my previous post - there are two explanations. Either he is completely oblivious and doesn't even have the historical background, media knowledge, or imagination to understand what is going on, or he is a psychopath.

Also, FYI - the phrase "banality of evil" was coined by Hannah Arendt, an author writing about Adolf Eichmann, one of the architects of the Holocaust. From that perspective things sort-of fit. The MC is similarly doing heinous things indirectly, although obviously not on the same scale, and his actions are not racially motivated.

(Although it later turned out that this banality and lack of imagination was all faked by Eichmann as part of his legal defense strategy.)

 

[Doombringer]

Pirates, not people.

You don't need to be a monster or psychopat or sociopath to complete disregard others lives. It might to evil. You could argue that it's evil, but it's completely banal form of evil. People are generally quite good at justifying their own immoral actions, especially when they can argue that the cause justifies the mean.

Also, let's not forget the situation they were captured under. They came to his home, his people to rob and likely enslave his people. Hard to feel sympathy and mercy when you reasonable belive that they would show you non. Hell the pirate didn't even bother to give them a ultimatum once they came into range.

Lastly these are pirates, professional criminals that lives of taking from others. Kind of hard to feel any sympathy for people who's reputation is one robbery, rape and ruin. They make their choices, and they reap what they sow.

Note that I am not trying to argue the MC is morally right, but rather that any assertion that he is monster, psychopath and/or sociopath is overblown or dissengenius. If he is guilty, then it's of a banal evil he is guilty for.

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There is a reason why all irl governments have a permanently standing declaration of war on all pirates everywhere, and pirates are by law not considered human anymore (forget the official name of the term though). And it's the reasons you gave. So MC certainly shouldn't even feel bad, as irl we do worse things then that to pirates now. Russian sailors fed Somali pirates to sharks several years ago from what I remember (and everybody clapped at them for it).

 

[FollowingStars]

There is a reason why all irl governments have a permanently standing declaration of war on all pirates everywhere, and pirates are by law not considered human anymore (forget the official name of the term though). And it's the reasons you gave. So MC certainly shouldn't even feel bad, as irl we do worse things then that to pirates now. Russian sailors fed Somali pirates to sharks several years ago from what I remember (and everybody clapped at them for it).

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hostis humani generis, the enemy of humanity.

 

[Twigtree]

Plot twist. The whole story is in fact a SI about the rubber ball manipulating everyone and being in everyone's office. Like a sort of cognito hazard that replicates itself.

 

[seamus]

Plot twist. The whole story is in fact a SI about the rubber ball manipulating everyone and being in everyone's office. Like a sort of cognito hazard that replicates itself.

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Just what I needed a rubber ball si

 

[Twigtree]

Just what I needed a rubber ball si

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Check "rock falls , everyone dies" nice novel

 

[OrderedOrb]

Right, as I said in my previous post - there are two explanations. Either he is completely oblivious and doesn't even have the historical background, media knowledge, or imagination to understand what is going on, or he is a psychopath.

Also, FYI - the phrase "banality of evil" was coined by Hannah Arendt, an author writing about Adolf Eichmann, one of the architects of the Holocaust. From that perspective things sort-of fit. The MC is similarly doing heinous things indirectly, although obviously not on the same scale, and his actions are not racially motivated.

(Although it later turned out that this banality and lack of imagination was all faked by Eichmann as part of his legal defense strategy.)

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Why are you so determined to try and paint the MC as a sociopath just because he doesn't react to torture by whining about how evil it is? At this point you're trying to say that torture under any circumstances is unilaterally evil and those who practice it are the same. In that case, Mace Windu, Obi-Wan and Anakin during the Clone Wars are all evil because of their collective Mind Trick attempt on Cad Bane, with Anaking suggesting they try it a second time when it's implied Cad Bane would be reduced to a vegetable. Or how about when Ahsoka was trapped on a ship with those Geonosian worm parasites and Poggle wouldn't reveal how to stop them?

Now you're gonna whine about "Anakin is Vader so it counts". But then what about Mace and Obi-Wan? And Anakin eventually becoming Vader doesn't mean a damn thing for the argument, it's just grasping at straws. What matters is CONTEXT. Content matters for EVERYTHING, even is if doesn't make it wholly excusable it can still make it acceptable, though a bitter pill.

But to me you honestly seem you're just being a contrarian by trying to stubbornly insist on this matter.

 

[ElimGarakovsky12]

Why are you so determined to try and paint the MC as a sociopath just because he doesn't react to torture by whining about how evil it is?

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Did you miss the part above where I said there are two options, only one of which is that the MC is a sociopath?

At this point you're trying to say that torture under any circumstances is unilaterally evil and those who practice it are the same.

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Yes. Yes, I am - that's pretty much what I am saying. In my opinion torture is evil and mostly counter-productive. There are degrees of evil, different types and levels of torture, and various reasons for it (e.g. the ticking time bomb scenario that never actually happens and is a literary device from fiction), but it is evil and wrong. IMHO to not be bothered by after participating in it you need to be either an idiot, evil, or broken - a person with a brain defect who doesn't feel empathy - IE a sociopath.

In that case, Mace Windu, Obi-Wan and Anakin during the Clone Wars are all evil because of their collective Mind Trick attempt on Cad Bane, with Anaking suggesting they try it a second time when it's implied Cad Bane would be reduced to a vegetable. Or how about when Ahsoka was trapped on a ship with those Geonosian worm parasites and Poggle wouldn't reveal how to stop them?

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I haven't seen Clone Wars, so I can't really comment since I don't know how much that can be classified as torture but see above about different types and levels of torture. Depending on what they did, they may have done evil.

 

[Viking_Berzerker]

Right, as I said in my previous post - there are two explanations. Either he is completely oblivious and doesn't even have the historical background, media knowledge, or imagination to understand what is going on, or he is a psychopath.

Also, FYI - the phrase "banality of evil" was coined by Hannah Arendt, an author writing about Adolf Eichmann, one of the architects of the Holocaust. From that perspective things sort-of fit. The MC is similarly doing heinous things indirectly, although obviously not on the same scale, and his actions are not racially motivated.

(Although it later turned out that this banality and lack of imagination was all faked by Eichmann as part of his legal defense strategy.)

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I stand by my assertion that the common man/women are all capable of disassociate, compartmentalize, and justify their actions even if they know intellectually the full extent what is happening. There is no need to be a sociopath/psychopath, if you simply believe they are unworthy of your sympathy.

If it was the MC that was doing the torturing personally and didn't feel a shred of remorse then you have a case to argue. But he didn't. He didn't see the torturing, even if he knew intellectually what was happening, he didn't read a report detailing the excruciating pain that was being inflicted. He didn't see the torture scared corpses either, I doubt he even saw the bodybags. I highly doubt he even saw the faces of the pirate before the where "interrogated" either, or that he was given their names. They are nameless presumably faceless pirates who reaped what they sowed.

Calling the MC a monster is subjective to your own moral structure, calling him a sociopath/psychopath is objectively questionable.

Also I know where the term "banality of evil" comes from. I will however admit that it being faked is news to me.

 

[OrderedOrb]

I stand by my assertion that the common man/women are all capable of disassociate, compartmentalize, and justify their actions even if they know intellectually the full extent what is happening. There is no need to be a sociopath, if you simply believe they are unworthy of your sympathy.

If it was the MC that was doing the torturing personally and didn't feel a shred of remorse then you have a case to argue. But he didn't. He didn't see the torturing, even if he knew intellectually what was happening, he didn't read a report detailing the excruciating pain that was being inflicted. He didn't see the torture scared corpses either, I doubt he even saw the bodybags. I highly doubt he even saw the faces of the pirate before the where "interrogated" either, or that he was given their names. They are nameless presumably faceless pirates who reaped what they sowed.

Calling the MC a monster is subjective to your own moral structure, calling him a sociopath/psychopath is objectively questionable.

Also I know where the term "banality of evil" comes from. I will however admit that it being faked is news to me.

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I wholly agree. Compartmentalization of one's own empathy is a thing for when they either do morally questionable things like inflicting pain on others. Hell, it's something soldiers in our own world are basically taught to do in order to function at their jobs. The Empire probably pushes it even harder, but you don't have to be a sociopath (or more accurately a psychopath) to ignore bad things happening to people around you. Honestly though, I think the guy arguing is just intentionally ignoring all that because he just wants to stir up a controversial opinion. It reminds me of a YouTube video about a guy arguing that the Demons of the setting weren't the bad guys and he was making blatantly inaccurate claims and assertions to try and make a point.

 

[OrderedOrb]

Did you miss the part above where I said there are two options, only one of which is that the MC is a sociopath?



Yes. Yes, I am - that's pretty much what I am saying. In my opinion torture is evil and mostly counter-productive. There are degrees of evil, different types and levels of torture, and various reasons for it (e.g. the ticking time bomb scenario that never actually happens and is a literary device from fiction), but it is evil and wrong. IMHO to not be bothered by after participating in it you need to be either an idiot, evil, or broken - a person with a brain defect who doesn't feel empathy - IE a sociopath.



I haven't seen Clone Wars, so I can't really comment since I don't know how much that can be classified as torture but see above about different types and levels of torture. Depending on what they did, they may have done evil.

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Part 1: That's an argumentative ultimatum. You're saying he's either so oblivious to the point that he'd walk off a bridge, or he's a psychopath. That means you ARE saying he can only be one thing in this matter.

Part 2: You are completely ignoring the context here. You are admitting that degrees of torture are a thing, and it can be done to people who can or have done worse. You are talking about someone torturing pirates who were raiding his system, stealing from his people and killing them while doing it. Considering this pirate was literally caught in the act of doing so, what are the chances his hands are clean in this matter? Torture of a more or less confirmed murderer and high quantity attempted theft of imperial cargo, or torture of said criminal. Which sounds like a worse crime?

Part 3: You're trying to downplay it so I spell it plainly. The three of them were using a collective Mind Trick on Cad Bane, a confirmed multi murderer who led an attack on the Republic Senate, with a confirmed killing of one Senator, multiple security personell, and planning to kill all the other Senators in the building with explosives. They were torturing him because another job he took involved stealing a Jedi Holocron with the names and location of numerous Force Sensitive infants the Jedi knew about but allowed to stay with their families at their parents decision. He PERSONALLY kidnapped these children and handed them over to Sidious, his client. He was captured but refused to talk, and resilient anough that a single Mind Trick wouldn't work,. so they decided on all three of them using a cumulative effort of three Mind Tricks at one. This would be the equivalent of an extremely painful psychic lobotomy if it went wrong, no different from physical torture that could kill you if it went wrong. It was even stated by one of them that such a thing could destroy someone's mind completely.

So which is worse; what Cad Bane did before and was doing at the time, or why the Jedi did to save some kidnapped infants from him?

 

[Stelarwand030]

For this whole discussion on the torture i remember a study (don't remember who or when) where people when given praise and affirmation, by some one in "power" above them, would "torture" others. The others being bad people who deserver horrible punishment. They used a board with dials that "controlled" an electric chair and a "bad guy". (if i remember right)

It was all fake and the bad guy was pretending. Some of the test subject of course didn't do it but those that did all said something to the effect that the bad guy deserved it if the man in charge said so.

Thats all i really remember. Found it.

 

[Rustic]

.... did our author rl get in the way of our next chapter?

 

[Fearless444]

Where is Freefaller is he safe is he alright

 

[Sam I Am]

It's currently 9:30 PM here in forest fire filled Los Angeles and when I wake up tomorrow and 8 for some grand ol community college I expect to have a veritable cornucopia of answers to sift through instead of paying attention in class.

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*Read in 1970s Frank Welker Fred voice*

"Alright Gang! Let's find out who this masked malefactor really is!"

*GASP*

"It's Community College!"

"Why'd you do it, Mr. College?"

"Rgghh, I wanted my Alumni to have a well balanced and thoughtful education, with which they may take the first steps into their chosen field of work with grace and knowledge! And I would of gotten away with it too, if it werent for you meddlesome adolescents and your articulate canine!"

"Well, you'll be able to teach many students at the local penitentiary!"

This is just a realy longwinded wa to say the author dudemanbro probably just has, like, tests or something.

 

[ElimGarakovsky12]

Part 1: That's an argumentative ultimatum. You're saying he's either so oblivious to the point that he'd walk off a bridge, or he's a psychopath. That means you ARE saying he can only be one thing in this matter.

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I am saying that I can think of only two, two and half possibilities - not that only two possibilities exist. Frankly, I think the author just didn't think of this interpretation, so my claims of the MC being a psychopath are a bit facetious. I am basically pointing out the logical inconsistency in the character.

Part 2: You are completely ignoring the context here. You are admitting that degrees of torture are a thing, and it can be done to people who can or have done worse. You are talking about someone torturing pirates who were raiding his system, stealing from his people and killing them while doing it. Considering this pirate was literally caught in the act of doing so, what are the chances his hands are clean in this matter? Torture of a more or less confirmed murderer and high quantity attempted theft of imperial cargo, or torture of said criminal. Which sounds like a worse crime?

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IMHO what the people that are being tortured have done doesn't matter. There is a reason why the US constitution forbids cruel and unusual punishment without specifying any exceptions. The laws of most other first world countries are much stricter than that and forbid the death penalty altogether, and make sure that their prisons are far more humane than those in US.

Part 3: You're trying to downplay it so I spell it plainly. The three of them were using a collective Mind Trick on Cad Bane, a confirmed multi murderer who led an attack on the Republic Senate, with a confirmed killing of one Senator, multiple security personell, and planning to kill all the other Senators in the building with explosives. They were torturing him because another job he took involved stealing a Jedi Holocron with the names and location of numerous Force Sensitive infants the Jedi knew about but allowed to stay with their families at their parents decision. He PERSONALLY kidnapped these children and handed them over to Sidious, his client. He was captured but refused to talk, and resilient anough that a single Mind Trick wouldn't work,. so they decided on all three of them using a cumulative effort of three Mind Tricks at one. This would be the equivalent of an extremely painful psychic lobotomy if it went wrong, no different from physical torture that could kill you if it went wrong. It was even stated by one of them that such a thing could destroy someone's mind completely.

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I am not trying to downplay anything - I've not seen the episode and have literally heard about this case for the first time a few days ago, on this thread. This is one of those ticking time bomb scenarios in most respects that often show up in fiction, but the question still stands. From your description I think the Jedi did do evil, but it sounds like it was necessary. What separates them from being evil themselves is what they feel afterwards - good people would feel a heavy impact on their psyche after a particularly brutal interrogation. I don't know if these Jedi felt anything about what they did.

So which is worse; what Cad Bane did before and was doing at the time, or why the Jedi did to save some kidnapped infants from him?

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I am not sure what your point is - are you thinking that I equate and consider both actions to be equivalent somehow? I think that what Cad Bane did was much worse. But that does not mean that what the Jedi did was good either.

I stand by my assertion that the common man/women are all capable of disassociate, compartmentalize, and justify their actions even if they know intellectually the full extent what is happening. There is no need to be a sociopath/psychopath, if you simply believe they are unworthy of your sympathy.

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To a degree, yes, except that the MC is in charge here. What happens here is his responsibility and it seems to be on his explicit or implicit command. While common workers on the street have the right to disassociate since they don't have the power to do anything about the situation, MC does not get to have that excuse.

If it was the MC that was doing the torturing personally and didn't feel a shred of remorse then you have a case to argue. But he didn't. He didn't see the torturing, even if he knew intellectually what was happening, he didn't read a report detailing the excruciating pain that was being inflicted. He didn't see the torture scared corpses either, I doubt he even saw the bodybags. I highly doubt he even saw the faces of the pirate before the where "interrogated" either, or that he was given their names. They are nameless presumably faceless pirates who reaped what they sowed.

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He found out about his direct subordinate brutally torturing someone to death over the period of several days with multiple people having trouble sleeping due to the screams, and has just seen her wipe blood from her face. If he is disassociating here, then he is either an idiot or being explicitly and willfully blind, to which he does not have the right. Because he is in charge and what happens under his watch is his responsibility.

Calling the MC a monster is subjective to your own moral structure, calling him a sociopath/psychopath is objectively questionable.

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As I said above, the "diagnosis" of him being a psychopath is a bit factious since I think the author just forgot about this problem and I am trying to point out the inconsistency and questionable behavior, but it does fit the very limited set of evidence we have here.

 

[SpoonyHive]

Damn, people got really work up over if MC is good or evil huh? The simple answer is that there's no fine line between the two, the jedi and the sith both tried to make good and evil and clear distinction and it ended up fuck everything in the galaxy.

The simple answer is that MC is not a saint. He tries to do good, but at the end Las Mola cared more about saving his own skin than upholding "goodness".

What happened was that his clearly insane but competent underling that knows more about military than he do and he relies on her for his safety, got bloodied with a captive. And at the end of the day, he's a imperial governor tries to not get send off to die.

He found out about his direct subordinate brutally torturing someone to death over the period of several days with multiple people having trouble sleeping due to the screams, and has just seen her wipe blood from her face. If he is disassociating here, then he is either an idiot or being explicitly and willfully blind, to which he does not have the right. Because he is in charge and what happens under his watch is his responsibility.

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This is just stupid, "does not have the right"? What? Are we on some kind of Holier than thou crusading MC here? Like it or not torture is prob seen as regular in the imperial army, a place where Darth Vader force chokes his HIGH ranking officer on the spot without going through any protocol or trial?

The MC has shown to be not perfect, just like people. Expect him to be unable to disassociates bcs it's not his right is unrealistic, people breakdown under circumstance and just because you have "responsibility" doesn't mean you magically get the competency for it. MC was at that point, heavily under stress from the pirate raiding, was and still is heavily worked to death with little sleep.
You response is prob gonna be "Well if so he's fucking stupid and incompetent". Guess what, everyone can be a little bit stupid and make mistake from time to time too.

 

[ElimGarakovsky12]

Damn, people got really work up over if MC is good or evil huh?

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Yes, I don't understand this either - I am presenting my personal opinion and other people are trying to explain to me that my opinion is wrong somehow, based on their moral compasses.

This is just stupid, "does not have the right"? What? Are we on some kind of Holier than thou crusading MC here? Like it or not torture is prob seen as regular in the imperial army, a place where Darth Vader force chokes his HIGH ranking officer on the spot without going through any protocol or trial?

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He does not control what Darth Vader does - he does (or should) control what his direct subordinate does. Even if he does not think he can order her safely, the fact that he just shrugs off the blood is not a normal reaction IMHO.

The MC has shown to be not perfect, just like people. Expect him to be unable to disassociates bcs it's not his right is unrealistic, people breakdown under circumstance and just because you have "responsibility" doesn't mean you magically get the competency for it. MC was at that point, heavily under stress from the pirate raiding, was and still is heavily worked to death with little sleep.

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No, I am saying that he does not have the right to allow himself the luxury to not think about his actions or the actions of people under his command. If that is what he is doing then he is being a very bad manager and should not have been put in this position - it's a huge strike against his character IMHO. As in he is becoming an evil person here, and not somebody I would want to root for.

I don't think it makes sense for a sane human being to watch somebody wipe the blood of prisoners for which they are responsible off their face and ignore all implications. In my opinion this can be explained in only a couple of ways, as I've mentioned repeatedly.

 

[Armentho]

I don't think it makes sense for a sane human being to watch somebody wipe the blood of prisoners

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once there was a man with heavy tumors begging for food on the street
every just passed by including me and my mother

some girls were even joking about school and their boyfriends as this dude was esentially dying on the street

''out of sight,out of mind"

and if is a villanous kind (pirate) is very easy to dehumanize them and just let them suffer by omision,negligence and apathy

people arent good vs evil

they are easy/convinient vs inconvinient

is easy to just not give a fuck about pirates

 

[FarJackal]

once there was a man with heavy tumors begging for food on the street
every just passed by including me and my mother

some girls were even joking about school and their boyfriends as this dude was esentially dying on the street

''out of sight,out of mind"

and if is a villanous kind (pirate) is very easy to dehumanize them and just let them suffer by omision,negligence and apathy

people arent good vs evil

they are easy/convinient vs inconvinient

is easy to just not give a fuck about pirates

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I think it also depends on where you live because if that guy was somewhere else kinder someone would have taken him somewhere to get treated and paid for it. Obviously the galactic empire does not care since we have seen clones on the streets begging for food despite all service they done.

 

[SpoonyHive]

I don't think it makes sense for a sane human being to watch somebody wipe the blood of prisoners for which they are responsible off their face and ignore all implications. In my opinion this can be explained in only a couple of ways, as I've mentioned repeatedly.

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Oh definitely, I defo agree with you on this. What I'm disagree on is immediately linking this to psychopathy.

As much as we human think ourselves as cultured, learned people who get over our base instinct. The truth is, it is very easy for us to simply dehumanize or to shut off our thoughts about a STAGGERING amount of violence. Current ukraine war, Myanmar's civil war, ongoing child labor and cheap labor exploitation of third world country.

I'm not saying our mc is correct. Opposite of that, as a governor he absolutely should try to fix this problem, a problem that sadly permeates the entire Empire. But if someone ignores the death and torture, it's less psychopathy and more indifference, something sadly also abundant in our lives.

The most direct evidence to this is well, liveleak and car/train crashes footage. People flocks to those thing and it would be certainly wrong to label every viewers a psychopath bcs they enjoy... well y'all know what kind of content on liveleak.

 

[Alenco98]

Will our unfortunate MC ever meet The Senate, Vader or any of the main cast?

 

[Freefaller]

Chp-19: Family Time!(violence edition)

Gortaz Bullhorn
Minda System, ZH-40 Tribune-Class Light Freighter Godly Greed

The times were good! Profits were up, and for all that Minda was a prickly fruit of a star system, it was a sweet one as well.

He swiveled around the gunner's turret, looking for the target. As members of The Crowns, the crew he was a part of, the Golden Eyes, were sent to intercept some miners in a far off claim.

"Ships entering sensor range, ratheads! Get yer eyes and guns ready!"

Gortaz hollered into the comms alongside the rest of the crew when he heard the captain get on the mic. He activated the gunnery station, and swiveled the turret in the indicated direction.

The Godly Greed throttled its engines, burning for the miners' positions. Three undefended ships, two miners and one cargo. This would be easy, since the miners would most likely abandon the cargo. All the better for him.

As he opened fire with the ion cannons, he imagined what he would do with his upcoming share. Maybe there was a fine woman aboard the ship, ey? Might take her.

He just shook his head instead, throwing away the fantasies.The Captain got first right, and the seconds she left behind weren't even sloppy, they were just disgusting.

His Captain was an ugly woman, and he'd met his mother, so she had developed a complex of sorts. Was real rough with the newest slaves. Had a…thing… for breaking new slaves in personally.

Not his preferred method, he just wanted a hole and a face. But who was he to judge? Gortaz is a pirate, not a prude.

He's shaken from his thoughts as the ship shakes. Not the normal shakes, from turbulence and fast turns. No, he turns his guns up as a new ship flies into range, firing ion blasts in his direction.

"What the!? Enemy ship! Shoot it down!" He screams into the comms, opening fire as the ship launches ion torpedoes. At this range, he manages to hit one on accident, before the remaining two slam into the hull.

He holds down on the trigger to no avail, cursing as the gunnery system shuts down around him. This thing is barely held together as it is, he's lucky it didn't snap and send him flying into the void.

As he struggles with the emergency release straps, cursing all the way about the many colorful things he'd like to do to the enemy ship, a thump resounds from outside the turret ball.

Looking up, the only thing he saw was the vast expanse of space, and the helmeted head of a Mandolorian.

Oh kriff.
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kai Loyu
Minda System, RD-800 StarSkipper Basilisk Hound

Having deposited his two more martially inclined sisters on the hull of the enemy ship, Kai turned the Basilisk Hound away towards the Miners. They had been contracted to deal with any pirates in the claim by the small company, and the only reason he hadn't blasted that Tribune out of the sky was because the Mindan government had put out a call for captured pirate ships.

They could end this job with a little more scratch than before. If the ship was good enough, however, they could get some tax cuts in their mercenary dealings while in the system. The Guild was doing well by them, if nothing else.

As he neared the miners, he commed them. "This is Captain Loyu of the Basilisk Hound. You should have gotten notice of our presence in the area, as we were contracted by Drillers United for protection detail around these parts. You folks ok?"

"Yes, thank you." Sounded a voice from the other end, static filling the channel. "We seem to have taken some damage to the comms of our freighter, so we'll be heading back. Could we bother you for an escort?"

Kai shook his head, despite knowing they couldn't see him. "We alerted the authorities as soon as we spotted them. Our shift is over, but the next crew should be here in a minute or so, they have more ships so they'll escort you out"

"Ah, thank you. Have a nice day then." Phew, thankfully, they didn't insist.

"You too," replied Kai, already tired of this conversation. Small talk. The one part of this job that he doesn't like.

As he turns back towards the pirate ship, he connects to his sister's channel.

There is naught but blaster fire, the constant screaming of both Kay and the pirates, and the quiet sighs of Kel.

He turns the channel off.

The pay better be good.
—--------------------------------

An unnecessarily copious amount of blood covered the inside of the pirate ship. And Kel. A fact she did not voice, due to Kay's current…predicament. Stuck, trying to pry her busted weapon from a Twi'leks skull.

She had decided that, for this job, she wanted to go all melee. A club covered with rotating blades, some hellish thing she had conjured up from a scrapheap a few planets back.

It had done the job, killing its targets effectively. It just so happened to effectively splatter said targets over everyone and thing in the vicinity.

That's why Kel was wiping her visor as she walked over to the cockpit, double tapping every corpse she saw along the way. The Nal Hutta job taught her that.

Tossing the pilot's corpse aside, she sat down and started the reboot sequence. It only took a few seconds for the generator to come online, after which she made contact with Kai.

"Everything good on your end?"

"...Yeah."

She gave a little smile under her helmet. "Had to talk to people?"

"...Yeah."

Not wanting to hurt his feelings, she held back her chuckle. "You'll get the hang of it. Regardless, for all that I like Minda, I'm not sure we'll be staying here for long.

He latched onto the new topic with enthusiasm. Well, Kai's version of enthusiasm. "Unfortunate. The Guild is quite a nice system. Though, we might want to slow down. This will be our tenth captured ship after being in system for just two weeks. Don't want to make a splash."

Kel hummed. He wasn't wrong, but still…"This pirate craze won't last long. Either Minda falls and the number of good contracts goes down, or the pirates are taken care of and the same thing happens. With this ship turn in system, we can milk this area for all we can get, then leave."

"...I suppose. You're the boss, anyways."

She repressed a sigh. Their team wasn't perfect, but they were family. They'd make it through this rough patch, like all the others.

As she turned the pirate ship to align with Ugea, she could only hope to one day not fear for her family again.

Only, later that day, when they left the Guild after completing their bounty and turning in the ship they captured, did they get a surprise. The Guild Girl at the desk told them they had an appointment in the Imperial Tower.

As Kai looked at her with a smug face, she sorely wished they didn't have to hide their armor on the ship, so she could hide her grimace.

Not one smooth job, huh?
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was piloting my L-99 into Ugean atmosphere, Commodore Veers sitting in the copilot's seat as she taught me how to fly. Finding out that she actually knew how to pilot on a professional level was impressive, as most Navy officers don't bother learning more than the basics. What's the point, when you're going to be giving commands to the pilots instead of sitting in their seats.

It also kinda scared me. Just another point towards her being ambitious as hell. The drive of this woman was insane, and I could only hope that I didn't end up in her path one day.

For now though, she was my flight instructor. And a good one at that. Very calm and understanding. Though that's probably because I'm her boss.

"Now" she said, "hit the comms button and signal Ugean Traffic Control"

I started to tilt my head before - "Without looking" - I tilt my head back down and cautiously lift my hand.

Feeling around the buttons, I settle on one.

"That's the headlights"

I shift my hand slightly.

"Flares"

Odd position for flares.

"Ejection seat"

God awful placement, I should get a refund.

"Correct"

Pressing the button, a bored voice filters in through the comms.

"This is Ugean Traffic Control. Please state your name, ship type and reason for visit."

"My name is Las Mola, my ship is an Incom L-99 Executive Transport, and I'm returning to work"

"Understood. Your transponder checks out with Imperial codes. You're free to land on the Islands pad. Good day governor."

Huh. They maintained that bored tone the entire time, even after finding out I was the governor. Good man. Should get him a raise for being so impartial.

It was as I was making the descent that my personal PDA rang with a notification. It was a Priority 1 ping, which meant that it was important, and I should pick up immediately.

Shifting control over to the Commodore, I get out of the pilot's seat, and move towards the cabin proper while I respond to the ping.

Sitting down in the luxury seats, I look through the info, reading through a few small messages before getting to the big one. I then toss the PDA onto the coffee table, and pour myself a mug of hot cocoa. It is the only time I regret not having alcohol here, even though I never drink.

"Are you ok, sir?" Veers calls back.

"I'm fine. Just more work." I respond, though internally I know that she will be thrilled. All the more opportunities to move up the chain.

A small family of Mandolorians were found doing merc work in the system. While their beskar was technically forfeit by Imperial law, I didn't care much. I would probably still hire them for the job I had in mind.

Then came the last message, the actually important part. The infiltration team had succeeded in gaining access to The Crowns Lucrehulk, a ship called The Duet's Dominion, and had been able to slice a panel, gaining access to their internal files(pirates have shit cybersecurity). Apparently they somehow managed to get the whole exterior painted gold.

Probably because of their backers. The fuckers known as the Zann Consortium. I never played Empire At War, on account of the fact that I was born a year before it was released, but I had done my fair share of wiki diving. They were a smuggling ring of sorts, with their leader being fucking insane enough to hijack Old Man Palpies personal Star Dreadnought, then just give it back. They also don't operate on this side of the galaxy. In fact, none of the major crime syndicates operate much on this side of the galaxy. Yet Tyber Zann and his people decided to expand.

By funding the fucking Crowns.
?
Can't have shit!
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi there, folks! Sorry for the late chapter, but today was the last day of PCC's winter semester so I was taking a final. Of course, the spring semester starts next monday, but that's what I get for not talking to a counselor at the start of college and wasting two and a half semesters on useless classes.

Now, to address some things I have seen in the comments, because I read all of them. It's a hobby now. Anyway, I saw that some of you had an interesting discussion about the morality of torture over on QQ. Riveting stuff, I assure you, but I'll clarify some things since my writing failed to do so.

In the scene where Las gets on video call with Kaela, and he holds back a wince at her appearance, then suggests better torture hygiene? That's not him wincing at her being dirty, that's him wincing because he has once again been reminded that his top Army officer is insane.

Does that mean he cares about the person who got tortured? No. To Las, he only cares that Kaela is both capable, willing, and downright eager to torture people. It scares him, which is in line with the fact that he is driven almost entirely by fear. The only reason he hasn't run yet is because he fears being tracked down and killed.

Regardless, it's not as if he can't feel sympathy or empathy. He can, for sure. I am not writing a sociopath. But again, he doesn't care for the person that Kaela messed up. To him, that person barely exists, as the only evidence of their existence to him is the blood on Kaela's face. He has seen no video, heard no screams, hell, he never even saw a bodybag.

To top it all off, it was a pirate. A person actively working in such a way as to make his life harder, therefore increasing his chances of dying. If he had spared it any more than a passing thought, he would have dismissed it as a benefit to his chances of survival, which to him are priority No. 1.

With that finished, I got a question for y'all. While it's still a ways away, since the Pirate Arc is still in it's beginning stages, I want to know what kinds of natives you want to see on Minda 2. I have yet to decide, so any submissions for culture, appearance, unique traits/artifacts/abilities are all the more likely to be taken into consideration.

And finally, while I have been using this site for around a year now, maybe a bit less, this story is my first time posting. Ever. Never even commented before this, or liked either. So any information on how the site works, tips and tricks, and patience when I inevitably make mistakes is appreciated.

Thanks for reading!

-Freefaller

 

[Stelarwand030]

Woot!! Update!!

 

[sxeron10]

The Zann? Man, they really are like cancer cells if they decided to grow their empire on the other side of the galaxy.

 

[carbon1923]

To top it all off, it was a pirate.

Click to shrink...

Makes sense. For most of human history pirate's weren't seen as people.

 

[Simonbob]

With that finished, I got a question for y'all. While it's still a ways away, since the Pirate Arc is still in it's beginning stages, I want to know what kinds of natives you want to see on Minda 2. I have yet to decide, so any submissions for culture, appearance, unique traits/artifacts/abilities are all the more likely to be taken into consideration.

Click to shrink...

Twi'leks.

There's a LOT of slaving aimed at them. It's downright common, so it's entirely possible to get a ship full of thousands of them, and needing a place to put them.

 

[stads]

now here is me hoping he can capture the gold plated ship

 

[Rustic]

It was an agrarian planet before he popped in. What type of produce did the orginal population grow as a cash crop. That will primarily decide the species that was the orginal inhabitants. Was it some weird purple comquad looking thing did you picture wheat fields? Was it little tentical monster grown in shallow aquariums.

I grew up as a cattle rancher in new mexico the state. New mexico is a desert. Another product we raised was alfalfa. Chilies, potatoes, ostrich and olives. In warhammer 40k agrarian often raised some really crazy evil beasts as a cash crop.

 

[Battle_Unit_3]

Now how are they going to deal with the Crowns.
If you want maximum value, you can board the Lucrehulk and take it over because it's a cool ship that would be a massive boon to Minda

Alternatively they could tell the infiltrates to deliver 17 crates of nukes and make a run for it with a safe distance of several systems