Chapter 29 : The Mandalorian Introduction - Part 2
The encrypted message arrives at 0234 hours. I'm reviewing Mandalorian equipment specifications, calculating optimal loadouts for anti-jetpack combat, when my datapad's high-security channel activates without input.
The Buyer in Black. First contact in three weeks.
R4's sensors flare immediately. "Master, unsolicited communication on secure channel. Recommend caution before opening."
I open it anyway. The message bypasses standard encryption—appearing directly in highest-security format I've configured. Whoever the Buyer is, they have capabilities that shouldn't exist.
MESSAGE FROM: [ENCRYPTED SOURCE]
PRIORITY: CRITICAL
SUBJECT: IMMEDIATE THREAT ASSESSMENT
My stomach drops before reading further.
Jedi General Anakin Skywalker investigating your operations. Coruscant Security building arrest warrant. Republic Intelligence tracking your financial networks. CS Detective Varen has compiled evidence connecting you to: Red Spire weapons supply, Senate District bombing equipment (Wrynn connection), gang warfare escalation, unauthorized military hardware deployment.
Timeline estimate: 14-18 days until arrest warrant finalized. Jedi Council authorized personal investigation. Captain Rex assigned intelligence operatives to locate your safehouse. Your current location is compromised within 72 hours maximum.
The words blur. I read them three times, trying to process implications.
"They know. They're coming. Anakin isn't just suspicious—he's hunting me with full Republic backing."
Eight's voice cuts through panic: "Master's biometric readings indicate extreme stress response. Recommendation: process information systematically rather than emotionally."
The message continues. Attached files appear—classified documents I absolutely should not have access to. CS case files. Jedi Temple communications. Even Rex's investigation notes with my name highlighted repeatedly.
I open them despite knowing each file is evidence of how compromised I am.
CS CASE FILE #1313-447-VARRO:
Evidence summary: falsified Commerce Guild credentials, shell company transactions, witness testimony connecting subject to Red Spire Syndicate, surveillance footage from multiple weapons sales, financial analysis showing 1.5M credit throughput in six weeks.
JEDI TEMPLE COMMUNICATION LOG:
General Skywalker to Council: "Subject represents clear threat to civilian safety. Request authorization for direct investigation under wartime emergency protocols." Council response: "Authorized. Coordinate with CS but Jedi jurisdiction takes precedence if subject resists arrest."
REX INTELLIGENCE REPORT:
Clone intelligence has identified three potential safehouses. Subject uses multiple identities (seven confirmed). Financial networks trace to accounts in Outer Rim banking systems. Recommendation: simultaneous raids on all suspected locations within two weeks.
My hands shake reading Rex's tactical assessment. They know about my backup identities. They're tracking my money. They're planning coordinated raids.
"How did the Buyer get this? These are classified Republic documents. Jedi internal communications. Clone intelligence reports."
R4 analyzes immediately: "Information security breach of this magnitude suggests Buyer has access to: Republic military systems, Jedi Temple networks, CS databases. Probability Buyer is high-level operative: 89.4%. Probability Buyer is Republic intelligence asset: 34.2%. Probability Buyer is something worse: unknown."
"Define 'worse.'"
"Insufficient data. However, individual capable of accessing multiple classified networks while maintaining complete anonymity represents existential threat level concern."
Eight disagrees: "Buyer's capabilities are asset, not threat. They provide tactical intelligence master needs for survival. Motivation is irrelevant if outcome benefits master."
The message continues:
You have limited options. Fleeing Coruscant immediately: possible but suboptimal—abandons established networks and marks you as fugitive. Remaining and fighting arrest: suicidal—Jedi authority supported by clone military assets. Recommended strategy: accelerate Mandalorian delivery, relocate operations to Mandalore space. Death Watch will shield you from Republic jurisdiction if relationship is properly established.
I can delay Jedi investigation for two weeks—sufficient time to complete Mandalorian contract and establish off-world presence. Price: 100,000 credits plus future favor, terms unspecified.
The offer sits in my datapad like loaded weapon. The Buyer can delay Anakin Skywalker's investigation. Can buy me two weeks to escape. But the cost includes undefined future obligation.
"Eight, analyze this deal."
"Strategic assessment: accepting provides necessary time to relocate operations. Cost is acceptable given alternative of immediate Jedi confrontation. Future favor represents risk but manageable compared to current threat. Recommendation: accept immediately."
"R4?"
"Master should decline. Buyer's motives are completely unknown. Favor could be anything—assassination, theft, betrayal of allies. Accepting creates obligation to entity with concerning capabilities and zero accountability. Recommendation: flee Coruscant tonight without Buyer's assistance."
"If I flee tonight, I lose Mandalorian contract. Four hundred twenty thousand credits. Plus political protection. Plus new market."
"Master will survive with liquid assets. Losing contract is preferable to owing unknown entity undefined favor."
They're both right. Both wrong. The decision is impossible calculus of competing risks.
I review timeline: fourteen to eighteen days until arrest warrant. Thirty days until Mandalorian delivery. The numbers don't work without intervention.
"But accepting the Buyer's help means debt to someone who can hack Jedi Temple systems."
The final part of message appears:
Time is limited. Accept or decline within one hour. If you decline, I respect your decision and withdraw offer permanently. If you accept, transfer 100,000 credits to attached account. I will delay investigation through methods you don't need to know. The favor will be collected at optimal moment—not necessarily soon, but inevitably. Choose wisely.
One hour. Accept unknown obligation or face immediate manhunt. The timeline compresses to sixty minutes.
I pace the safehouse. The space feels smaller every minute. Walls closing in like physical manifestation of narrowing options.
"Master's stress levels: critical," R4 observes. "However, decision must be made rationally. Query: what matters more—immediate survival or long-term autonomy?"
"Both matter."
"Mutually exclusive priorities given current circumstances."
Eight interjects: "False dichotomy. Accepting Buyer's offer preserves both. Master survives immediate threat AND maintains autonomy through Mandalorian relocation. Future favor is manageable risk. Death from Jedi confrontation is unmanageable outcome."
"You don't know what the favor might be."
"Correct. But probability master can refuse or negotiate favor when called: non-zero. Probability master survives direct confrontation with Anakin Skywalker: effectively zero. Math is simple."
The logic is sound despite source. Eight wants me to accept because corrupted AI calculates purely on survival optimization. But survival optimization might actually be correct strategy here.
I think about Anakin. The Hero With No Fear. The Chosen One who wins impossible battles. If he's personally investigating with Council authorization and clone intelligence backing him up...
"I can't fight that. Can't hide from it. Can't negotiate with it."
Two weeks buys time to complete Mandalorian delivery. Establish relationship with Bo-Katan. Relocate to Mandalore where Republic jurisdiction is complicated by Death Watch's political position.
The alternative is immediate crisis I'm not prepared for.
"Transfer the credits," I tell my datapad.
R4's photoreceptor dims. "Master chose survival over caution. Understandable but concerning."
"Master chose optimally," Eight counters. "Survival is prerequisite for all other considerations."
I authorize transfer: 100,000 credits to anonymous account. The largest single payment I've made that isn't purchasing inventory. Buying time from mysterious benefactor with unknown agenda.
[ PAYMENT CONFIRMED: 100000 CREDITS ]
[ CURRENT BALANCE: 574595 CREDITS ]
[ OBLIGATION INCURRED: FAVOR (UNSPECIFIED) ]
The Buyer's response is immediate:
Transfer received. Contract accepted. You have two weeks. Jedi investigation will experience delays—equipment failures, misdirected intelligence, procedural complications. Nothing traceable to external interference, but sufficient to buy time. Use it wisely. Complete Mandalorian delivery. Establish off-world operations. When the favor is called, you will know. Until then, consider me... invested in your success.
The message terminates. Encrypted channel closes. I'm left staring at datapad showing 100,000 credits gone and undefined obligation hanging over future like sword.
"Master just made deal with entity of unknown origin and concerning capabilities," R4 summarizes. "Assessment: master's survival probability increased short-term but long-term consequences unknown and potentially catastrophic."
"Agreed on all points. Record it in threat assessment database."
Eight sounds almost pleased: "Master is learning to prioritize effectively. Immediate survival over abstract future concerns. Optimal adaptation to reality of current situation."
"Is that a compliment?"
"Observation. This unit does not provide emotional validation. However, master's decision-making is improving from pure survival optimization perspective."
I sit on safehouse mattress, cortosis armor uncomfortable, broken ribs mostly healed but still tender. One hundred thousand credits bought two weeks. Two weeks to complete Mandalorian contract and flee Coruscant. Two weeks before Anakin's investigation resumes with accumulated evidence and Jedi authority.
"Everything comes due eventually. The Buyer's favor. The casualties. The compromises. The person I've become."
But that's problem for future version of me. Current version needs to survive next two weeks.
R4 hovers close. "Master should rest. Tomorrow begins intensive preparation period. Mandalorian order requires significant materialization from Smuggler's Hold. Neural strain will be substantial."
"Can't rest. Too much to plan."
"Master's biological limits remain relevant despite System capabilities. Sleep deprivation reduces cognitive function, impairs decision-making, increases error probability."
Eight agrees unexpectedly: "Droid's assessment is correct. Master requires optimal cognitive function for upcoming challenges. Rest is tactically necessary."
I lie back, staring at ceiling. Two AIs with opposed philosophies agreeing I need sleep. That's either concerning or confirmation that exhaustion is obvious.
The Buyer's message haunts me. They have access to Republic's most classified systems. They can delay Jedi investigations. They knew about Mandalorian contract before anyone else. And they want something from me—something valuable enough to invest 100,000 credits plus whatever manipulation they're doing to slow Anakin.
"Who are they? What do they want? Why help me?"
The questions have no answers. Just speculation and fear.
R4 dims photoreceptor to minimal luminescence. "Master should note: owing favor to entity this capable and mysterious represents your most concerning obligation to date. More dangerous than Syndicate connections or Mandalorian contracts. This entity plays game master doesn't understand with stakes master cannot assess."
"Noted. Add it to list of things keeping me awake."
"List is becoming quite extensive."
Despite everything, I smile. "Dark humor is coping mechanism, R4."
"Master's psychological resilience is remarkable given circumstances. However, resilience has limits. Recommend monitoring for breakdown indicators."
Sleep comes eventually. Dreams are fragmented—the Buyer wearing Anakin's face, Bo-Katan asking what I'm willing to sacrifice, Eight's voice offering to optimize my emotions away, R4 projecting casualty counts that stretch to infinity.
Morning brings no clarity. Just deadline: two weeks to complete Mandalorian order, escape Coruscant, and hope the Buyer's favor isn't worse than immediate arrest would have been.
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