STAR WARS: RETROSPECTION- Diplomacy

"I mean: how is your future looking like? All the blockades aside?"

"One reason may have been to drive us off," Jelena says. "It certainly would be difficult for the Jedi to monitor the negotiations if we were prevented from attending. Or killed. But I don't think our attendance is that important to the actual nature of the negotiations."

"We don't really get promotions," Hardrew says. "A few people move up here and there... but the Fest Corporation only works on Fest. Where are we going to go from here? Nowhere."

-

"That seems too direct," Senator Lobs sighs. "But it was my first guess."

(I'm a bit stumped at what I still have to ask)

"It could have sparked further conflict between the present factions," Jelena says. "The group responsible for killing a Jedi diplomat would have been in poor standing with all involved. The Trade Federation appeared to have the most aggressive stance to our incoming, though unintentional. Maybe it would have ruined their stance as mediator?"

-

Jovan I think you're just getting the opportunity to find out stuff about Fest and the mines! Just like I'm getting the opportunity to see things on the Senator/official side.

yeah, but I'm getting the feeling I'm missing something and can't put my finger on 😖

In any case, Hardrew pulls up the speeder to the entrance to the mines! Standing beneath the tremendous blast door that seals it off, you are made aware just how tiny you are.

A signal is given when Hardrew approaches, and a series of gears and cranks start into motion. The door grinds open slowly.

-

"I am not certain that would have had a great effect on the negotiations," Senator Lobs sighs. "It would have added to the drama, to be sure, but we are not here to discuss our relationship with the Jedi Order. Not to mention we weren't notified."

You have a feeling it will keep coming back to that, Jelena.

"Do you believe that our call ahead was interrupted or blocked?" Jelena asks, not actually knowing if it was or not. "I still have to research what happened there."

"I am not sure what to believe," Senators Lobs says. "If I believe you, then something more is amiss."

"It doesn't jam too often I hope?" 😛

"Neither answer is preferable," Jelena says. "I will be incredibly surprised if the Council did NOT send word of our arrival."

Jelena looks out on the city below.

"What state is the city in, with this three-part blockade in effect? Is there any suffering? What are they blockading, anyway?"

"If the Fest Corporation takes care of anything, it's the door that gets us in," Hardrew says. "Can't mine the mine if we can't get in."

The door grinds open enough for the speeder to enter. Hardrew drives it through and into a sort of car park where other speeders (most of them heavy-duty transports) are stopped.

"We walk from here," Hardrew says. "The main chamber is this way."

He hands you a hard hat with a light fixture.

-

Senator Lobs sighs that things are going fair. The blockade has not prevented food from passing through, and the Festans try to be self-sufficient anyway.

The real problem is that the Corporation is losing money because it can't ship out of any of its ores and minerals. The Mantooinians aren't letting any merchants or traders land, or depart if they are already here.

"I can imagine that is having a drastic effect on all costs here on Fest," Jelena says. "Are wages being cut? Are prices going up? What's happening to the economy?"

"Perfect. Lovely that you got the right equipment for me.
Besides the normal safety procedures, how is safety handled over here?"

Senator Lobs outlines that the economy is suffering. Fest's industry is focused mainly on the minerals they export, and in some small part the water they export to drier worlds. They are losing millions of credits a day as they are unable to ship out their goods.

"It's only a matter of time before we cannot afford to import food," Senator Lobs says. "The public does not know that, and we do have a plan in place to stave off a famine.

"We'll withhold the wages of the miners until the crisis is resolved."

-

"Safety is not exactly the Corporation's main concern," Hardrew says. "Just watch where you step and use common sense."

The grizzly miner guides you into the main chamber of the mine, which is an awe-inspiring sight.

A significant area has been hollowed out inside this mountain! It is remarkable that it is even still standing, even with all the reinforced beams that they have running up toward the 'ceiling' of the mine. You stand on a ledge overlooking what is essentially an open pit mine inside the mountain, spiraling downward and downward and downward into the very roots of the berg.

Glows dot the massive pit, from the headlamps on miners' helmets and illumination installations, to the molten sparkle of plasma drills burrowing into the earth.

And as Hardrew said it would be, it is very warm in here.

"This is definitly not the sight of the mines I had in mind. How many thousands of miners are at work here at any given time?"

Hardrew estimates about five thousand miners are working at a time. Almost everyone that lives on Fest works in the mines- there are about ten thousand employees total for this one.

so it's a pretty small or desolate planet?

Jelena sharply inhales breath at the comment.

"The miners won't like that," Jelena says. "Have you anticipated how they'll respond to having their wages suspended until the Mantooinians leave?"

Fest City is not the only city nor the only mine on Fest, Hardrew will remind you. This is the largest mining operation by far, and in the capital.

-

"The Corporation's security teams are ready to quell riots, if need be," Senator Lobs sighs.