I had just turned forty, and the last five years had been marked by accelerated growth, strategic maneuvering, and the grim reality of a war that refused to end.
The conflict between the Jedi Order and the Brotherhood of Darkness raged on, a perpetual, grinding war of attrition. According to the vast amount of security videos and intelligence reports I had collected, both sides were stubbornly entrenched in their doctrine.
They fought with passion and controlled skill, but apart from being visually impressive, both sides' gains were unremarkable, and their losses were immense. Still, this chaotic environment was perfect for me; it meant I could take what I wanted from both parties and simply attribute the losses to the enemy. A little bit of selective salvage here, a few misplaced data chips there. Sticky fingers in a galaxy at war.
My vision for Bee's Eden School was now a thriving reality, full to the extreme. A glassed planet, sterilized and scarred by one of the many brutal battles throughout this galaxy, had been repurposed. Its dead surface was now dotted with skyscraper sized Edens, self contained biospheres that twisted toward the sky. Each one produced enough sustainable food to feed a small army. It was a core philosophy of the project to get the whole family involved; they lived together, played together, and were genuinely happy.
The force sensitive individuals in my employ handled concepts like love and death with far more resilience than the institutionalized Jedi or the dogmatic Brotherhood. They learned from their families that small losses helped to prepare them for the inevitable, greater loss of loved ones. They had emotional resilience that the Jedi lacked.
Rewarding people for their ideas, especially inventions, had paid off massively. At first, they were tiny ideas, like a power cable that increased efficiency by sixteen percent, or a ship's air scrubber design that looped on itself and made cleaning easier.
All of them had their immediate use, and all the people were paid according to the invention's value. A lot of small, cumulative advantages added up to ginormous results. And when massive, world changing ideas came my way, I paid handsomely.
There had been several great inventions that went on to become their own self sustaining businesses with a trade on the intergalactic stock exchange. The good ideas had their leaders and CEOs, and I simply offered cash in exchange for stock options and anything I found technically interesting. In short, money, money, money.
Bee's Healing Halls and Bee's Food Halls had been met by the public with great vigor and were critically acclaimed. I was regularly seen on billboards, holo programs, and adverts proclaiming my food halls. I even had a catchphrase, delivered with a theatrical flourish that seemed to resonate with the common person:
"Hunger is a sin to all the galaxy, Eat at Bee's Food Hall, cheap, cheap, cheap!"
Almost everything was going well, but of course, there was the inevitable nosey Jedi. I truly didn't expect the Jedi to push their fat noses into my business, especially with the war ongoing. One Jedi Knight, a Togruta, and his Padawan walked up to my personal Eden tower, a smaller, luxurious dome that served as my primary residence on this planet. I had been watching them through the security cameras ever since they landed and left their transport ship.
They paused briefly at the entrance. I could sense that their minds were at peace. They didn't have an ounce of unease about them. This was good news, as they probably weren't here to put me back in prison. Their minds would be laced with all kinds of aggressive thoughts and feelings if they were here to attack an escaped former Initiate, especially the Padawan, but the only thing I felt in the boy was profound, crushing boredom.
One of my many secretary protocol droids welcomed them to the first floor, which was my living quarter, and offered them a place to sit, a smooth fruit drink, and veggie filled buns to eat. Both the Jedi and the Padawan were looking at my motto, "Hunger is a sin," which had been imprinted on a huge glass trophy, when I walked in with a basket of freshly picked apples and pears.
The basket of food was on purpose. My fat suit, which I wore constantly for disguise, made me look like a tank and worried some people. The basket was on my arm to subconsciously give the impression that I was a harmless, simple fat farmer, a man whose primary concern was the quality of his fruit.
"Welcome to Eden," I said, my voice warm and deep, offering a toothy, friendly smile. "Please, help yourselves to the fresh harvest. I trust Unit 34 offered you refreshment?"
The Togruta Knight nodded. "The hospitality is appreciated, Master Bee. I am Knight Lumas, and this is my apprentice, Vartan."
There were greetings from both sides and sweet pleasantries that went nowhere and would make you sick with diabetes. The Padawan finished his bun before the Jedi got to his point. Beating around the bush was causing me to grit my teeth. The Jedi had either read my body language or sensed my burgeoning impatience, because he quickly got to the point.
"The Council and the Service Corps have seen the exceptional work your Eden Project is doing," Knight Lumas explained, his tone measured and diplomatic. "The sheer volume of sustainable agriculture is impressive, truly a blessing in these dark times. We wondered if a partnership, a team up, would benefit both our groups."
I sat down on my huge, comfy armchair and slowly peeled an apple with a small, sharp knife. The bastards thought I didn't know what was going on. I occasionally put a piece of peeled apple in my mouth while the Jedi explained all the benefits of a team up.
"It would grant you official Republic protection," Lumas continued, gesturing with an open hand. "And the Corps could provide experienced logistics personnel."
I knew what they wanted. The war had gotten super spiteful, and the Brotherhood of Darkness had started to attack and take hostage the non Jedi Service Corps members, specifically the Agricultural Corps. The Jedi wanted to hide their Corps members in my Eden project.
It was hard to forget how much of a bastard the Jedi Order could be. An individual Jedi might be pure and only have the best intentions, but unlike the pure Light Side and Dark Side, the real world had layers of grey. This was the biggest problem the Jedi had: they were arrogant and couldn't bend with the real world's messy complexities. The choices they made could end up hurting the "normals," and most importantly, me.
Yes, by hiding the non Jedi Corps members, they could continue their good work at feeding the galaxy, but by trying to hide them in my Eden project, they were putting my interests at risk. It would only be a matter of time before the Brotherhood of Darkness found out. By adding the Jedi's troubles to my assets, they risked the whole galaxy going hungry, as my Edens were providing for millions.
Something told me that the Jedi and the Service Corps wouldn't stay to themselves and would try to incorporate my Eden project with their Service Corps. They had already done it with many force sensitive cultures. I didn't trust them not to overstep my boundaries. I decided to tell them a story.
I took a large bite of apple and chewed slowly, letting the silence stretch. "Knight Lumas, Vartan. I appreciate your kind offer. But you should know how we manage threats here at Eden. We are not defenseless." I set the apple and knife down. "In the last five years, making my Eden community across the galaxy, I've had pirates, raiders, slavers, and just the worst scum trying their best to cut a slice from my project."
"The Jedi are skilled at defense," the Knight offered mildly.
"Indeed," I conceded. "But our answer is different. Our answer is might. My Eden Project would hire bounty hunters, killers, and the same scum of the galaxy to destroy anyone who thought it was a good idea to mess with the Eden project. There were no second chances for anyone attacking Eden. Brutal efficiency, mass destruction, and when it called for it, public execution. This was the only way to keep my Eden projects safe from the scum. If you attacked, stole, or were generally a pain to the Eden projects laced throughout the galaxy, then you were met with severe repercussions."
All of this worked well, mostly because of how small the enemy was, but my reputation wouldn't hold back an army of dark side users.
"And your reputation is immense, Master Bee," Lumas acknowledged.
"Reputation doesn't stop a lightsaber," I countered. "I have already been visited by the Brotherhood of Darkness. They wanted the food that we grew, free of charge, but that wasn't going to happen. It got pretty bad when a lone Brotherhood of Darkness member ransacked a family and their Eden home to find information about me. They tortured the children to force the adults to give him my contact information."
I leaned forward. "What happened after that was I met up with the torturous Brotherhood of Darkness member at the family home that he had invaded. As soon as I was in range, I backhanded him so hard that the dark side user lifted off the ground, crashed, and landed on his knees."
The Padawan, Vartan, shifted uncomfortably. Knight Lumas remained impassive, his expression unreadable.
"He didn't expect I would attack him. He thought I was just a powerless fat man," I continued, my voice now low and cold. "Instead, he found knuckles that could bend metal and break bricks. Of course, he recovered quickly and pulled out his lightsaber, he anticipated a red beam, but nothing came of it."
I lifted my knife hand. My special type of hidden telekinesis had improved throughout the years. I could still only move a coin's worth of material, but the power behind that had increased immensely. I had ripped the guts of the lightsaber and twisted them so it wouldn't work.
"He was surprised that nothing happened, but only a fraction compared to how fast I moved to grab his lightsaber hand and crush it with the broken lightsaber in it. He didn't expect a fat man to move that fast. After a couple of powerful gut punches, broken bones, and swollen eyes, the dark side user that terrorized the family was now captured."
"You... engaged a Sith-trained warrior in unarmed combat?" Vartan asked, his boredom instantly replaced by horror and surprise.
"A dark side user, yes," I corrected him. "After some fingernail pulling and tooth removal, I managed to get contact information out of the dark side user. I contacted a figurehead of the Brotherhood of Darkness using a holo communication. A bureaucratic pen pusher, and I worked out a deal. Throughout the deal, I had the weeping family in the background and the torturous Brotherhood of Darkness member by my side in a side hug."
"You sold food to the enemy?" Knight Lumas asked, his voice neutral, yet I felt a surge of disapproval from him through the Force.
"I sold food for profit, yes," I confirmed. "I could see that the bureaucratic pen pusher was at a disadvantage in dealing with me. The way they usually did business was, that they demanded, and if you were smart, you comply, but I was an unknown that had somehow overpowered a dark side user. The deal was done, and the bureaucrat was eager to leave, but I didn't turn off the connection. Instead, a further message was passed to the Brotherhood of Darkness in the form of me pushing my thumbs into the dark side user's eyes, and a clear cry of anguish wobbled out of his mouth."
I paused for effect. "I left him on the floor for thirty seconds as I cleaned the blood off of my hands. The crying noises from the family had one new addition to them as the dark side user wailed. I could feel the pain and hate coming off of him, so I decided to finish him off. It was no point leaving a dark side user of the Force alive so that they might come after you again."
"Killing is not the Jedi way," Lumas stated, his voice now firm.
"I am not a Jedi, Knight Lumas," I said simply. "I grabbed his hair and pulled him up to his feet. The man knew what was coming and fought back with his one good hand. A spike of telekinesis ran through the room and latched on to the kitchen knives, each one wobbling as to get ready to pierce my body. It was only then that the blinded dark side user realized that I was a force user, and judging by how I overpowered his telekinesis with my own, a much more powerful one. Before he could say anything, I wrapped my hands around his throat and squeezed. Death wasn't instant, rather his face changed color as the air was denied to him and the blood pooled on his face. Once he stopped moving, I snapped his neck and crushed his skull on the ground. This was the message I passed on to the Brotherhood of Darkness. It was a good job that the dark side users didn't care about their members as much as they cared for a good and profitable deal, that was how I ended the call."
I concluded my story. "I ended up paying the family and healing their children. They no longer wanted to stay on that planet, so they came with me to start again on a glassed planet, but with my immediate protection."
The Jedi Knight who was sitting in front of me listened to my entire tale, including the fact I was selling food to the Brotherhood of Darkness. The Padawan Vartan, however, jumped to his feet, rage and terror mixing on his young face. He released his lightsaber, the emerald blade snapping to life with a hiss. He didn't even get a foot closer to me.
"You killed him in cold blood!" Vartan shouted, anger overriding any tactical sense.
This was my home, and I had complete control over it. The area the Padawan was in lost its gravity and caused the rambunctious boy to float away, twisting awkwardly in the air. He tried to fight back, flailing, but it would seem that the young adult wasn't used to zero G. The Padawan, inexperienced and panicked, did a desperate act and threw his lightsaber at me. With a quick flick of my wrist, the knife I was using to cut apples left my hand and embedded into the hilt of the lightsaber, causing the lightsaber to return to sender.
Knight Lumas had much more experience with zero G and instead of stepping in the way of the flying lightsaber to block it, he used his Force powers to grab it and stop its motion just centimeters from Vartan's face. He turned to me, ready to explain what had happened, only to be shocked that I was already on my feet with the massive chair I was sitting on in my hands, posed over my head, ready to slam it down on the Padawan.
Then I saw it, the Padawan's fear. He was just a kid. He had been taught, but not well enough to make proper decisions that could and would affect the galaxy in a negative light. He had attacked with anger and fear, not understanding that by striking me down, the Jedi Order would be tainted with the title of killing a great, compassionate man who healed the sick and fed the hungry and poor. The poor kid was stupid and young, a mixture that would get him killed if he didn't correct himself.
Knight Lumas did nothing as he watched, perched on the edge of his chair. He was wise enough to know that sometimes the best course of action was to do absolutely nothing. I paused over the young Padawan. The action I didn't take caused the Padawan to relax, and when I dropped the massive chair on the floor, causing a loud noise and making both the Padawan and Jedi jump, they both realized that I wasn't going to attack.
I grabbed the floating lightsaber out of the air and released the young Padawan from zero G. To his credit, he was able to twist and land on his feet. I turned my back on them. Both of them were quiet. The Jedi was hoping to glean some deeper meaning, and the Padawan was out of his depths to know any better.
I turned on my holographic T.V. and showed them what I knew. The screen was split into different security images, most showing different battles between the Light Side and the Dark Side. There was no clear winner, no one side that dominated over the other, and some of the images showed the Service Corps of the Jedi being attacked.
Knight Lumas immediately got the point. "The Brotherhood is targeting our non-combatants. You know this is why we are here."
"I know why you are here," I confirmed. "You want to use my community as a shield."
The Padawan Vartan still didn't understand the gravity of the situation, so I showed him the last moments of a foolish dark side user who had attacked an Eden ship and was destroyed by my hands. The visual was graphic and decisive.
"The Jedi Order cannot protect me," I stated, turning to face them. "You want to use me, but I have shown you that I don't need you, and I am not afraid of either side. If I accept your Corps members, this entire planet becomes a target."
Knight Lumas stood, retrieving the lightsaber I had tossed onto the nearby table. "We understand, Master Bee. Thank you for your candor. We will find another solution."
They left. I didn't see them out.
A/N
I have rewritten Chapters 1 through 7 if you would like to read them.