Tuesday, October 26, 2004

The Return of the Remnant

The early days of Temple City were tumultuous times. We had done extensive planning and we knew that it would take a certain number of inhabitants to keep the town self-sufficient. If we didn't have a population that was big enough, it would fail. On the other hand, if it grew too quickly, it might exhaust itself and also fail.

Altor, Readro, Spiderwell, Spydey, Brannoncyll and I all spent a considerable amount of time recruiting people to join us. It was a lot to ask of people to move to a completely new town - indeed, in some cases, a whole new planet - but we were able to take advantage of many interplanetary forms of communication. We were able to locate many people of a like mind as ourselves, who were looking to escape the influence of the Empire - not necessarily to oppose it directly, but only to be able to exert their own independence.

That is not to say that we had no citizens loyal to the Empire. We found many who were committed to the Imperial principles and who were looking to reside on a planet that offered the kinds of opportunities that could be found on Dantooine.

We accepted nearly everyone who wished to join us, as long as they agreed to abide by our guidelines and to work with the rest of us for the mutual benefit of our city. Personal politics generally gave way to the betterment of the greater good.

For a while, I was not sure that we would make it. Our growth was slow to get started. Once it got some inertia, however, it took on a life of its own and could not be stopped. It was not long before we had progressed our little economic and political unit far enough that we could afford such improvements as our own shuttleport, parking garage, cloning facilities and a medical center, in addition to such luxuries as a large cantina, numerous gardens and employment terminals. All of this carried a momentum of its own, helping to draw merchants and entrepreneurs to town.

As promised, I held regular elections, but no one ever ran against me. I hoped this was because they were satisfied with the way things were going. I did my best to listen to people's wishes and to shape Temple City to everyone's satisfaction.

In the meantime, I had grown quite proficient at the art of Fencing, but had grown rather bored with the repetition involved in maintaining my skills. I found myself concentrating on other pursuits. I learned to play music, and spent a great deal of time in Coronet on Corellia, where there is a famous cantina, filled wall to wall with all kinds of entertainers. I spent many nights there, losing myself in the music and participating in all manners of performances.

Even that could not hold my interest for long, however. The one constant was my vehicle sales business. I had meanwhile expanded and now had shops on two planets - Tatooine and Dantooine, in Temple City. Business was booming, and I had trouble keeping my inventory stocked. Spiderwell was doing equally well, and contributed greatly to the financial stability of the city, becoming its best recruiter and its singlemost generous investor.

I had little left to learn about Fencing, or music for that matter, but I didn't feel any closer to understanding the mysterious messages I had received from the Holocrons. I had money and, as Mayor of Temple City, a fair amount of power, yet I felt empty inside, as if something was missing, some integral part of my identity that I could not locate.

Not knowing what else to do, one night I jumped on my swoop bike and drove up to the Jedi temple ruins to think. I found myself sitting on an ancient, fallen column and staring at the ground, thinking about nothing and everything at once.

Suddenly, I felt a presence behind me. I hadn't heard anyone approach, but all of a sudden I was certain there was something there.

"Hello," I said, cautiously.

"Good evening," a voice replied. I recognized it immediately. It was the Remnant of Kun, who I had met while I was here with Gerrvin, so many months ago.

I turned to face him. His gaunt face stared back at me, his eyes dark.

"Why are you here?" he asked.

I shrugged. "I am here. What more would you know?"

He continued to stare at me. "Another scourge has appeared. Are you prepared to aid me again?"

I considered. He could only mean another being like the young Twi'lek Gerrvin, Spiderwell and I had encountered. I shuddered inside to think of what had been done to him. Yet here, perhaps, was a chance to redeem my actions. If there was another like that young one, perhaps he could tell me where they came from, who they were, what the strange, glowing swords that they weilded were called. And, most importantly, why the Remnant wanted them dead.

I nodded slowly. "I will help you."

"Yesss," the Remnant hissed, "You will."

He gave me instructions on how to find the "scourge," and sent me on my way, demanding that I return before morning.

It was not hard to find the man. He was next to a small campfire a few kilometers off, and made no efforts to conceal his existence. I drove my swoop quite close to his campsite before shutting it down and disembarking.

The man was already on his feet, his weapon at the ready but not yet ignited. I stopped and surveyed him. He was a Twi'lek, no older than the last I had met. His skin was tinted orange and his lekku were drawn back behind his head. He looked at me with dark, intelligent eyes, and waited.

I raised my hand slowly. "I just want to talk," I said.

"The Remnant sent you," he answered, without moving his weapon.

I nodded. "He told me where to find you. But I am not here to do his dirty work."

The Twi'lek seemed to consider, looking me over. Then, gradually, his weapon dropped to his side in his hand. He seemed to relax, and I followed suit.

He bade me come closer, and we sat down together near his campfire. "What is it that brought you here?" he asked me.

"My name is Maast Lofor. I have questions," I said, "many, many questions."

The Twi'lek nodded. "My name is K'te. I will do my best to answer."

And thus began my first true lesson in the Force.

Sunday, October 24, 2004

Temple City is Born

As it was, the last straw was the droid invasion of the city of Bestine. Many of our partners were there, and only a few escaped unscathed. The droideka assault was an intolerable affront of our autonomy. The Empire claimed it was necessary to regain control from the Tusken Raiders, who had become problematic as of late, but many eyewitnesses saw the droidekas gunning down as many innocent citizens as they did Sand People. They were not programmed for discretion on that mission.

We were fed up, to say the least, but our plans were already underway anyhow. Initial reports returned from Dantooine were very promising. There was a lot of open land, just waiting to be developed. I enlisted Brannoncyll Frost, one of our senior partners, to accompany me on an official scouting trip. We scoured a great amount of the areas that Altor and Readro told us were promising, and soon narrowed things down to a few key potential sites. A few weeks later, we assembled all of the senior members and set out with a crew to lay the foundations of our new City Hall.

Construction went very smoothly. We were relatively far from the nearest settlement (the small collection of buildings enclosed by a barricade, carrying no other name than the Dantooine Mining Outpost). The speederbike trek to the building site was long, but it could be endured. We would have a shuttleport when the time was right, but for now we decided it was better to build the more essential structures to completion first, for our own protection.

City Hall was erected a few hundred meters from the shore of a small crystalline lake in northeastern Dantooine. The new GDC headquarters was built just adjacent, and Spiderwell had his own crew building a large house opposite, forming three sides of a city center. Once construction on City Hall was complete, the GDC partners began arriving and setting up their own residences.

There were two important questions to be answered before we got any further. The first was what we would call our settlement; the second was who would lead it.

The first question was one that was heavily debated. In the end, everyone was able to agree on a fitting title for our town: Temple City, in honor of the ancient Jedi temple ruins, located only a few kilometers away. The name indicated no particular allegiance to any one person or group. All manners of Jedi had trained at the temple, centuries ago. All manners of people came to see its ruins - pilgrims, tourists, Imperials, and others. So would our City also forge its identity.

The second question answered itself, in a sense. The question of leadership essentially fell to a decision between Spiderwell and myself. The other partners were ready to do their part to contribute to our city/state and corporation, but they were too involved in their own matters to be able to take on the responsibility of leadership.

Spider and I were both extremely occupied with our own business efforts as well, but neither of us was willing to relinquish supervision of what we had built to another, less trusted party.

In the end, I volunteered to take the job, at least until the City was established. Spiderwell agreed, pledging his full support, financially and otherwise. I declared that I would be an appointed Mayor only until we were settled and established. At that point, there would be democratic elections and if the citizens of Temple City decided it was time for a replacement, I would oblige them willingly.

With the foundations of a great metropolis set firmly in the soil of Dantooine, we began our efforts to recruit settlers to our new town.