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jedi-enthusiasm-blog · 9 days ago

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The Many Names of Peace (pt.3/?): Communication

CONTENT WARNINGS:

Child murder (discussed).

Rape/Sexual assault (discussed)

Slavery and sistemic oppresion (discussed)

Human/Sapient rights violations (discussed)

Ruusan Reformation (derogatory) (discussed in detail)

The mission was nothing complicated, just a standard corporate dispute. However, the intel didn't say a word about the pirate blockade on the orbit of Quarzite, not a single sound about how both corporations were using slave labor, or about the genocide going on on the planet.

Because the mission wasn't about those things. It doesn't matter that both corporations were using child slaves right in front of their noses, or that the planet belongs to the people the belugans are subjugating, oppressing, killing and enslaving.

The ade, Terith observes with concern, are terrified of them and the Jet'verde. One of them, a girl of near-human species, is clinging ont the Jet'ad for dear life and watching the adults surrounding them with mistrust. Terith's heart breaks a little.

"Agisti, Kenobi" the kage Jedi greets the Padawan-brother of her Shadow-brother. "It seems you found trouble again."

Kenobi sighs, looking a strange mixture of proud and exasperated. "It was all my Padawan this time, Jexha…"

Zahara smiles, a little amused. "Valehnan Jexha Zahara."

The Jetii approaches the scared ade, and kneels in front of them in order to put herself on the same level. She whispers something in a language Terith doesn't understand, but some of the ade seem to. The little girl clinging to the Jetii'ad relaxes once she hears the language, and calmly lets go of the boy's arm. Then, she turns to the other kids.

"She's a Warrior, she's Kin" the little girl says, switching into Basic, "and a Jidai. She doesn't mean us any harm."

The Jetii'ad looks surprised and confused, and a few other emotions that cross his face too quickly to be identified. However, the children immediately relax at hearing the girl's words. Apparently, whatever Heliost said was enough to make herself trustworthy.

Zahara smiles softly. "Don't worry. None of the people here will hurt you" she promises, and the look she gives Terith makes the clear threat of or else. "Do you have homes to return to? Kin?"

The children and Zahara switch to Kage again, and she manages to gather information about some of the children. She turns to the others.

"Most of these younglings are kages from Quarzite" she says in Basic, to make sure nearly everyone understands what she's saying. They'll be discussing these younglings' future, the least they can do is make sure the younglings understand them. "They are all from different Caves —homes, families—, and… some of them don't exist anymore. We have to make sure they all have places to stay in."

Then, she swallowed. "Others were stolen from families and homes in the Outer Rim, or bought from the Hutts. The others were taken too young to remember where they come from."

Anakin flinches slightly. He hopes nobody notices, but they all seem to be busy discussing what to do with the child- younglings.

They finish returning the kage ade to their homes and aliit a full standard day later. Now, the only thing left to do is return the remaining ade to their people or, in case they can't, find them a new home.

There is a tense silence in the subtram back to their ship. The recently freed younglings are wary of the three Jedi and the Mandalorian, even after Anakin freed them, and Zahara and Obi-Wan are obviously uncomfortable with a Mandalorian so close. Jedi and Mandalorian animosity runs deep.

The little kage girl that spoke to Zahara is roughly four standard, but turns five —according to her— in a few months. She's Force-sensitive, judging by her question of why Terith doesn't have "colors".

Zahara swallows a relieved sigh, but her shoulders still relax. Anakin hates it, how nobody cares about slaves unless they are Force-sensitive, how the Jedi do nothing about the planets in the Outer Rim or even the Couruscant underwold. So much for compassion.

There is tense silence as Obi-Wan, Boma and the Mandalorian sit around the table on Terith's ship, drinking slowly from their cups of tea. Hadia, the kage girl, has already drunk her whole cup, while Anakin's sits on the table untouched.

Is this what everyone does? Drinking tea instead of freeing slaves?

"How did you end up working with a Mandalorian, anyway? I thought, well, after…" Obi-Wan says, attempting diplomacy to break the uncomfortable silence.

"Not every Mando'ad is the same, even within the same faction" offers Terith. "Two verde, five opinions, as they say."

"It was you two, especifically" Zahara explains. "Terith despised the idea of a missing youngling, and I needed help to find you."

"Children are the future" adds Terith, sounding like they are quoting a sacred tenet of a creed they are part of. "If it helps… my clan will take care of any child we cannot bring back to their families."

Zahara clenches her jaw. "How wonderful for those you see as children."

The kage Jedi says it in a low mutter, but not low enough to avoid being heard by the Mandalorian.

"Look, you don't owe me the story of your pain" Terith tells her, having a silent conversation Anakin isn't privy to. "But Jaster's faction, the Haat'Mando'ade? We don't kill children. Nu draar, not ever. We are not Kyr'tsad."

Zahara sighs, but doesn't reply immediately. Instead, she turns to the younglings. "Anakin, Hadia, I'm about to explain something gross and disturbing to Terith, okay? I think you should leave. It's not a burden I want to put on you"

Hadia nods, and Anakin has to swallow the sharp retort that wants to come out of his lips. "Alright."

Hadia, still holding Anakin's hand, drags him out of the dinning room.

Whatever Knight Zahara said to the Mandalorian —Terith, they'd introduced themselves— was enough to make them feel disturbed. Anakin can feel their horror, even with their Force-presence muted through the armor.

"Mister Terith, are you okay?" Hadia asks.

The Mandalorian takes off their helmet and smiles, ruffling Halia's white hair gently. "I'm okay, just… learned something a bit upsetting. I'll deal with it."

Zahara and Obi-Wan come next. Obi-Wan squeezes Zahara's arm, and she smiles and squeezes his. They let each other go, and walk up to Anakin.

"Anakin" Obi-Wan begins, and swallows. "Can we speak alone for a moment?"

Anakin hesitates, not sure if he wants to deal with a lecture after the day he's had, but… Obi-Wan seems tired and worried, about him, and his chest tightens.

He hadn't wanted to worry Obi-Wan. He swallows the lump in his throat. "Yes, Master."

Zahara raises a brow at the form of adress, but doesn't say anything. Together, she and Obi-Wan lead Anakin into the dinning room of Terith's ship.

Anakin and Zahara sit down, as Obi-Wan pours his fellow Knight and himself a cup of tea. Anakin doesn't understand the Jedi's obsession with tea.

Zahara takes her cup to her lips immediately, while Obi-Wan leaves his on the table, waiting for his tea to cool down a little before drinking it.

There's a moment of uncomfortable silence, with none of the Knights knowing what to say and Anakin expecting the scolding to begin any time soon. Finally, Obi-Wan starts.

"What you did was very brave, Anakin" His Padawan flusters at the praise. "You did what was right even when it was hard, and I'm very proud of you."

Anakin's cheeks turn hot and red. He… hadn't been expecting the praise.

"But it was also reckless" Obi-Wan goes on. "There are many things that could have gone wrong, things you didn't consider."

Anakin feels anger rising. "I was trying to free the slaves!"

Knight Zahara sighs, suddenly looking exhausted. "Do or do not, Skywalker. There is no try." She leaves her cup of tea on the table.

"You're very lucky Hadia is Force-sensitive and under the age limit" Obi-Wan explains to his Padawan, with slowly dying calm. "You could get into great trouble if we don't thread carefully."

Anakin's anger explodes, and with it so does Zahara's cup of tea. The Valehnan barely shields herself and Obi-Wan in time to stop the hot water from burning them. "I was freeing slaves! I shouldn't need a justification for that! I don't need to tell the Council what I'm doing every second of my time so they can argue about everything and waste my time!"

Zahara picks up the broken teacup, using the Force to avoid cutting herself, and throws it into the trashcan. She's projecting calm into her expression, but the kage doesn't manage to hide her frustration in the Force.

"There is no could, there is no should, only what you must do." The kage Jedi says, words of wisdom beyond Anakin's reach flowing through the air and the Force. "You're right, you shouldn't need permission to do the right thing and free slaves. But we don't live in an ideal galaxy, and right now you do need authorization to fight slavery."

"Jedi must follow our mandates, Anakin" Obi-Wan tells him honestly. "We can't act however we wish, even if it's right."

"You sound like we are slaves at the orders of the Council! Jedi are free, we should-!"

Zahara grabs another cup and pours herself some tea. While she does that, she cuts Anakin off. "We are not, Skywalker."

Anakin's anger quickly turns to confusion. "What do you mean…?"

Obi-Wan sighs tiredly. "What do you know about the Ruusan Reformation, Anakin?"

Anakin blinks at the sudden change in subject.

"It's a peace treaty signed after the last Jedi-Sith Wars."

"In theory" Zahara allows. "In practice, it's… something else."

The kage Jedi and Obi-Wan exchange a glance. Then, all emotion disappears from their faces, but their Force signatures grow… louder.

"At the end of the New Sith Wars, a thousand years ago, the public view of the Jedi had shifted." Obi-Wan explains slowly, carefully. "Most of the galaxy doesn't understand the difference between a Jedi and a Sith, and coming from a centuries long war that caused a technological regression we are still recovering from…"

Anakin finishes his Master's sentence, sounding hesitant and almost hoping he's wrong. "People blamed the Jedi?"

Zahara sighs. "Yes. We were blamed for things we didn't do and for things we couldn't do even if we tried. That's why the Ruusan Reformation was written in the first place: to limit the power that Jedi could wield" The kage Jedi swallows the lump in her throat. "First thing they did was take away our power to participate in the political process, which means we cannot be representatives for any planet or system in any government, have representation in said governments, nor are we allowed to vote."

Anakin's face turns a shade paler. "But… isn't voting a right for all citizens of the Republic?"

"Yes" Zahara replies, and doesn't elaborate, lets Anakin reach his own conclusions. The Padawan doesn't like the conclusions he's reaching to.

"Next was… the demilitarization of the Order, right? I remember Quinlan talking about it" Obi-Wan adds.

Knight Zahara nods. "They took our armor, back-up and defenses, basically everything but our Lightsabers" She takes a sip of her tea. "This means that zabraks and kages, for example, cannot own their cultures' traditional weapons."

Anakin remembers an old male zabrak slave, who had always lamented the loss of his staff, and feels sick to his stomach.

"It gets worse" Zahara warns him.

"How…" Anakin swallows. "How does it get worse?"

"Jedi must follow their mandate, in theory to prevent abuse of power" Obi-Wan explains.

"In practice, it means the Senate can… request favors from us, and we are not allowed to refuse" Zahara tells him. Anakin's anger resurfaces.

"You mean they can use us as Blood Slaves, Pleasure Slaves and… they don't suffer consequences" Anakin says between gritted teeth.

Zahara, notably, doesn't deny it. "They also added other impositions, such as not allowing members of the Corps to carry Kaitahj or nevi padib being sent to the Corps if a jaieh hasn't chosen them once they turn their species equivalent of thirteen."

"Our ability to free slaves is one of those things they restricted" Obi-Wan adds mildly, but Anakin can feel the frustration underneath the calm surface prickling on his skin. "A Jedi cannot free slaves without prior Senate authorization… unless there is an enslaved Force-sensitive youngling, and the Jedi in question is a Finder."

"The youngling must also be taken into the Order" Zahara adds.

Anakin feels the weight of guilt and anger sink its claws into his stomach.

Jedi aren't free, he isn't free, and now he's condemned Hadia to the same fate.

"I wonder what it says about the galaxy that the Order is still the safest place for a Force-sensitive youngling to grow up in" Zahara mutters.

"Jedi can leave the Order and get the full rights of a citizen of the Republic" Obi-Wan adds softly.

Anakin feels anger curl up in his stomach, the familiar frustration that comes with powerlessness. That's not a choice, that's only cruel. Nobody should choose their culture, their traditions, their identity, or their freedom.

It's like the ghost of a choice he and his mother had in working in Watto's shop, the same choice Dancing Girls have in their outfits. Just an ilusion.

He remembers his mother's words, Elder Tena's soft explanation, what they had never managed to teach him because he didn't want to understand, because he'd been afraid of understanding.

There are a hundred ways to be a slave. Gold and jewels can still be chains.

Anakin's heart hurts. He wants… he wants to do something.

"Is there anything we can do?" Anakin asks, voice soft and timid.

Zahara nods and gives him a quick smile. "Yes, I have a plan" She drinks her tea, and adds: "I'm registered as a Finder, and Hadia is four standard, which is within the age range imposed by the Senate. We can simply say that I was on planet and Hadia was enslaved there, so after she was freed I took her to the Order."

"It's the truth." Obi-Wan replies, face in a cold mask but with amusement and defiance coloring his Force signature.

"From a certain point of view" Anakin is certain that Zahara takes her teacup to her mouth to hide her smirk.

Anakin is familiar with these games, these half-truths and careful lies told in order to hide dissent, the keeping of secrets done to get whatever smidge of freedom one could get. He knows the Tongue of Slaves intimately, even if he's never been good at it. Perhaps it's time to start learning another language.

His life dream of freeing all the slaves hasn't changed. It only has one more step. He and the Jedi will break their chains, and together they will free the slaves from the Outer Rim.

No chain or cage can hold a Sky Walker forever.

Dai Bendu

Agisti — hello, hi, a greeting between equals

Jexha — Jedi Knight, title.

Valehnan — Jedi Shadow. Lit "Master of physical darkness" Zahara is introducing herself as a Shadow who has completed her training.

Xari — Darkness, Dark Side of the Force. Although in this context Zahara doesn't mean it literally.

Imkai'ans — murderers without sense or cause, people who kill without good reason, for its own sake. The worst thing you can call someone in Dai Bendu (it's very accurate for Death Watch and the Finder-slayer though)

Enishee — crechemate

Kaitahj — Lightsaber(s)

Nevi padib — the Initiates

Mando'a

Ad(e) — child(ren)

Jet'verd(e) — Jedi Knight(s)

Jetii'ad — Jedi child, Padawan or Initiate

Buy'ce — helmet

Mando'ad(e) — Mandalorian(s)

Jetii — Jedi (singular)

Aliit — family, clan

Verd — warrior

Haat'Mando'ade — True Mandalorians, followers of the Super Commando Codex and the Rewritten Canons who recognized Jaster Mereel and later Jango Fett as the rightful rulers of Mandalore

Kyr'stad — Death Watch. Lit "dead society"

Nu draar — a very strong no, not on your life, absolutely not, not ever, rather cut my eye out with a fork than do that. Lit "not never", since Mando'a uses double negative for emphasis

Jetiise — Jedi (plural)

Mandokar — epitome of Mandalorian virtue: courage, tenacity, loyalty and lust for life. Although in this case they're praising Zahara's guts

Shig — spicy Mandalorian drink similar to tea

Demagolka — someone who commits atrocities, war criminal, someone who hurts children, a real life monster. From the scientist from the time of the Old Republic, Demagol, known for his experiments on children, a figure of hate and dread in Mandalorian culture

Mand'alor — leader of the Mandalorians

Kage Language

Jidai — Jedi

"The mission wasn't about those things". Jedi cannot act without explicit Senate authorization, in theory to prevent abuse of power. In practice to keep them on a leash.

The belugan corporations were using enslaved kages as employees because that way they don't have to pay salaries. Anakin Anakined the whole thing and decided to free the slaves. He freed most of them, mainly the children, but others were killed.

Zahara doesn't have a last name because Kage Warriors don't do surnames the same way we do. They mean something, such as a vocation or an experience you went through, and Zahara hasn't decided upon one yet.

Baby Anakin is suffering from severe imposter syndrome and is trying to make himself fit into the Order. He's hiding his Tatooine accent, he doesn't tell anybody about the culture he was born in and tries to immitate the Jedi he meets. What he hasn't realized yet (partially because of internalized biases, partially because of Palpatine) is that the Jedi want him to keep his culture and traditions, that many Jedi have accents from nearly every planet and that they don't know he was a slave.

The atmosphere of Quarzite's surface is Type IV, which is incompatible with any form of life (save for perhaps some kinds of bacteria). However, its caves are deep and, just like some caves in real life, have their own atmosphere, where sapient life is possible. Most ships are not equipped to the pressure, winds or storms of the Quarzite atmosphere, so people have to take subtrams to travel from one breathable space to another.

Jedi are a culture that drinks tea often, since many of them tend to find the flavors and/or textures soothing. Anakin doesn't know this, but Zahara and Obi-Wan made different teas with different flavors for everybody, because they have different tastes. Terith, on the other hand, is drinking shig (a spicy Mandalorian drink).

Anakin is still a baby and doesn't understand that freeing slaves is not something that can be done just like that. It requires careful planning, money, manpower and resources that the Jedi don't have. The restrictions of the Ruusan Reformation don't help, either.

If you've realized, Terith uses a lot of Mando'a words, even when they know Zahara doesn't speak Mando'a and neither does (as far as they're aware of) Obi-Wan. However, Zahara and Obi-Wan do not speak Dai Bendu in their presence save for a couple words, and they are speaking to each other, not to Terith. This is because Terith, like most Mandalorians, is not used to people not speaking the same language, Basic is their second language, and they're not fully fluent yet. However, Zahara and Obi-Wan are well trained diplomats who have dealt with people who didn't speak Basic, people who didn't want to speak Basic, people who couldn't speak Basic and are used to switching languages when necessary.

Terith doesn't know what enishee means. However, they can guess that it's either sibling, friend or the name of weird Jedi relationships like Padawan. But they can understand thanks to context. Basic sucks.

Jaster is still alive because I said so. He's a massive nerd too because I love that characterization for him.

My intention with this fic is, aside from spiting the Jedi-hate and Mando-worship of the fandom, adressing the horrible history Mandalorians have with Jedi. Despite this, I'm intending to be kind to most Mandalorians that show up on screen. Terith is a decent person that's horrified by everything they're learning (spoiler alert: it's bad) and I intend to give the same kindness to many other Mandalorian characters because, in the end, I believe most people are good (or at least not evil) and many Mandalorians would want to fix things and make amends however possible (giving braids and Lightsabers back, giving those who murdered children to justice, etc).

"A bit upsetting" AKA it's really bad and I'm barely holding on, but I don't want to worry you.

Most Jedi only call their Masters that word in Basic when there are people they don't want to find out about Dai Bendu (politicians, mainly) or when they're upset. Hence Zahara's reaction.

In case anyone's curious, Quarzite is an Inner Rim planet and as such is connected to Couruscant by a public transport network, despite its proximity to Mandalorian space (in this fic, I did artistic lisense on the GFFA map). Zahara didn't want to draw attention to herself while searching for Anakin, and it's standard procedure for Shadows to hide their Jedi status whenever a Jedi goes missing, because it's assumed there was a Jedi hunter involved until proven otherwise. However, now that she's found Anakin, Obi-Wan and the half a dozen or so slave children that tagged along, she's not willing to go by public transport and draw attention to the children they're smuggling out of the planet.

"There is no could, there is no should, only what you must do." A kage saying. What's done is done, it is what it is, and you must do your duty regardless. In this context, she's telling Anakin that it's useless to dwell on what should be happening, because it's, by definition, not happening. There are things that should be but aren't, and Jedi must act according to the present, not the past, possible future or alternate reality.

"Blood Slaves" Slaves whose masters use them as assassins, the very common fate of Force-sensitive slaves.

Elders are, in my version of Tatooine slave culture, slaves who have survived hardships and passed trials, for a lack of better word, and are revered by other slaves for their wisdom. Their role is similar to that of a Jedi Master (because the role of wise mentor is present in many cultures, and not all slaves have parents or guardians), but not quite the same. Anakin will, like many other Jedi, learn to balance his birth culture with the life of a Jedi.

"There are a hundred ways to be a slave." Saying in Hutt Space, where slaves make up over half the population. Not all slavery looks the same, some kinds are worse than others, but all in all it's the same shitty situation. The second part of the idiom, "gold and jewels can still be chains", means that even the people that look the most privileged can still be enslaved to something. Jedi live in a pretty Temple, but that doesn't mean they are free or the elite. In fact, as Anakin realizes, they are the complete opposite.

"Tongue of Slaves" AKA lying, misleading, deceiving, flattering and keeping secrets from slaveowners.

"Sky Walkers" is what the slaves from Hutt Space call themselves. It's a reference to a long extinct red bird species native to Tatooine, wiped out when the Hutts took over. The saying "no chain or cage can hold a Sky Walker forever" is born out of a sentiment of hope and defiance, a way of telling themselves they will be free one day, even if what gives them freedom is death. It's used as a last name for slaves who don't have one.

I'm not very satisfied with this one, so if it suffers any surprise editions you know why.

#star wars #my fanfic stuff #the many names of peace au #anakin skywalker #obi wan kenobi #jedi oc #mandalorian oc #force sensitivity #original child characters #slavery #there are a hundred ways to be a slave #ruusan reformation #this is a pro jedi blog #jedi as indentured servants to the republic #pro jedi #mandalorians critical #not really but just to be safe #anakin skywalker friendly because he baby right now #and he still hasn't interacted much with Palpatine and doesn't think of him beyond “man who was nice to me”

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