STAR WARS: RETROSPECTION- The Bannermen

He is amiable enough, you sense. You do not know his purpose, though; while the Naboo all dress lavishly in ornate gowns and robes, he does not have the look of an advisor or attendant to the Senator.

Senator Amidala eventually brings you to a pretty lounge, the balcony of which overlooks the grandiose waterfalls that pour from beneath the Palace at Theed.

"Please be seated," Senator Amidala says. Once your seats are assumed, she informs you that she will not be staying to discuss matters of Halloy with King Evand. She has remained standing by the door.

"What?!" Evand asks. "Who will be I addressing, then? Hopefully not some inferior. I have come to you directly to avoid the bureaucracy in the Republic as much I can."

"May I introduce Duke Torvuellé of the Lake Country," Padmé says, gesturing to the stately man who has assumed his place on a sofa across from you. He is stroking his goatee, comfortably reclined. "The Queen is currently preoccupied as she transitions into her throne and I transition away from it, and it is to her that I go now. The Duke is vested with my authority, I promise you."

The Duke gives a simple nod, to acknowledge her statement.

How would Denz be able to tell the King to speak with the proper tact and respect for the Naboo peoples, and that inferior was not the wisest word, and if he wants help he needs to be as wise as the title of King should suggest, but tell him in a way that doesn't wholly disrespect the king himself?

"Thank you, senator Amidala, I am sure you have much to do, but I do thank you for meeting us in person. And I am sure young Ani will be thrilled when I give them your regards, m'lady." Denz will smile. "However..." He turned to the Duke.

"Our haste of arrival did not allow me the luxury to find out the local time here on Naboo. So which ever applies here, I wish it good for you, and it is a pleasure to meet you, Duke Torvuellé."

You might be able to talk to him about it. Right now would be bad tact, in front of someone you are negotiating with.

"It is locally noon, Master Jedi," the Duke responds. "And thank you. My day goes well. The Senator has tasked me with handling this issue. I understand you are the King of Halloy. Is that correct?"

"Yes," King Evand says. "I have come to see if Naboo well pledge its assistance for my cause. I have need of soldiers and of support in the Senate."

Thats why I asked and powered on with the conversation as it were.

"Support in the Senate is likely more important." Denzral began. "It was my choice to come to the Naboo for aid first, based on recent history with the Zabrak Sith Lord, who aided the Trade Federation in their not so peaceful blockade and subjugation of the Naboo people." Denzral glanced at the surroundings as if they were being listened to, and leaned forwards.

He lowered the tone of his voice a little. "There is a Dark Jedi named Lothar Tull, who has seised control of Halloy, from the good King here. The planet and it's vast resources right now are likely being consolidated by him, and his power over the populace is surely growing, biding his time, rearing up his army.

"He has already staged several raids on Republic worlds prior to this take-over and upon investigating those, I was lead to him. It is only a matter of time before he strikes at the Republic again, and with the power of a sizeable army behind him, and the dark arts of the Sith cult of Necros to blindly guide his way."

Denzral pauses for a moment, and slowly breathes in, before licking his drying lips, and making sure his voice is as deadly serious and calm as possible before finishing; "This is a great threat to the Republic and it's member states especially that of the Naboo. Perhaps even the entire galaxy. And without a unified effort, unattested, Lothar will metaphorically speaking walk straight up to the doorstep of the Republic, and before anyone knows what is happening it will be too late."

"Ah," the Duke says. "You were hoping we would have some empathy with Halloy because an evil man in black robes is terrifying its citizens. Understandable... and wise. That is something that will resonate well with Senator Amidala, I think.

"Unfortunately, you have come to Naboo in a trying time. We are still recovering from the effects of the blockade and subsequent invasion. Our world suffered tremendously. People died violent deaths by the droids, or starved in their camps. We must think of our own concerns."

"Does a threat to the entire Republic not include you?" Evand asks.

"It does," the Duke says. "We have more tangible matters here. I do not think this 'Lothar Tull' will come to Naboo first. You speak in theory."

Denzral will nod in acceptance. "I understand that, of course helping your people out of this struggle will be a higher priority to you. But wouldn't not helping us open up your world to further victimization by a much more dangerous and calculated being. Lothar follows the dark arts of the cult of Necros, and I do not know what dangerous powers he can possess."

"He can't be more dangerous than a Dark Lord of the Sith," says the Duke. "What forces does Halloy possesses, anyway? What was your army like, before Lothar took it from you?"

"Mostly ground personnel, heavily armored and heavily armed," says Evand.

"Do you have fighters? All-terrain vehicles?"

"We have some fighters..." Evand says.

"But no tanks? No artillery?"

"No," Evand admits.

"The Trade Federation had worse than that," the Duke says. "And the Queen is strengthening our armed forces. I am not certain that are terribly concerned of the threat. The Senate would be more quick to act against an invasion from beyond the Republic than it would for an invasion from within."

"It is very unlikely that any war he plans out and enacts himself, will be waged with such conventional means. Don't get me wrong, I understand why you would believe so, and would draw on the sums of his military strength just by the forces and hardware he may have acquired during his coup of the good King." Denzral finally rattles out his answer after a very brief reflection.

"What worries me, and should worry most of the Galaxy, with the teachings of the Cult of Necros behind Lothar, he will using ancient Sith magic that even the Sith themselves abandoned because of how potentially dangerous this power is. Given enough time he could possess the population of the planet Halloy resides, and twist them, change them according to his will. I would not like to allow him such time, nor would I like to allow him time for his assassins to infiltrate the Republic, and do not think they would not come here.

"I wish to stop Lothar before he has had the time he needs to plan and prepare, before he can send his assassins as he has done in the past when he had Jedi Master Kanna Ichinne assassinated on Coruscant itself years ago. If we delay sending anyone to stop him for too long then by the time something is down it will likely be too late."

"I mean no offense when I say this," says the Duke, "but a Jedi Master, as great and respectable as he may have been, is only one man. I refuse to believe that Lothar Tull has secret powers that the Sith would not."

"The Cult and any information related to it was believed destroyed by the Jedi over a thousand years ago, at the ends of the great Sith war, if indeed that knowledge is still out there somewhere..."

Denzral will scan the Duke, and what is Denzrals intuition telling him about the conversation thus far.

Honestly REX, I'm stumped, so you are obviously doing a good job, you've collided me straight into a transparisteel wall, I can see what I need, there is just a blaster proof wall in-front of me, and my lightsabre malfunctioned.

The issue is that are trying to worry the Duke about an impending invasion that does not directly affect Naboo. The threat to them is vague and they have gone up against the Trade Federation; they are not afraid.

You sense that the Duke is nonplussed.

"And so were the Dark Lords of the Sith," the Duke says. "And yet... they were here, were they not? One of them, at least."

"Indeed." Denzral will agree. While he feels Lothar to be an even more dangerous threat than Darth Maul ever was, the Duke still had a point. "Perhaps there is something we offer to help you or your people with in exchange for any help the Naboo can provide us?"

"Ah," the Duke says. "It is sad to see that a Jedi Knight resorts to offering help after he sees that threats of dark magic and terror will not intimidate the Naboo."

"He's not threatening you," Evand snaps.

"He was not assisting me, either," the Duke says, with a smile. "Now he may. As it so happens, there are some matters that need attending to. Ones that the new Queen has not had a chance to correct."

Denzral will thank the King with a nod. He was greatful that the King did not feel he was using a scare tactic, and even though he had not been intending it in such a way, it could have easily been misinterpreted.

"Of course, and may I inquire as to what these matters are?"

The Duke smiles.

"Are you aware what allies came to our aid during the battle for our world?" he asks.

THEY HAD ALLIES?!! LOL NO I DON'T REMEMBER.))

"I assume you mean the Gunguns?"

"I do," the Duke says. "The Battle for Naboo has unified our world in a way that it never has before. We have ratified an agreement to have a spokesman for the Gungans, to support our representative in the Senate. Our armed forces are now an amalgamation of the Gungan Army and the Royal Security.

"Not everyone feels confident about this unification, however."

Denzral smiled. "Indeed the unification of the Gungun people, with the Naboo has strengthened your selves incredibly."

"It has," the Duke says. "As I say, not everyone agrees with it. We ourselves fully support the unification of those who live above the water and those who live below... but some of the Gungans are very prideful and are resisting the change."

"I chose my words carefully so as not to accuse either side, however just point me in the right direction, tell me what problems they have voiced, or what you know of them, and off we go."