4 Chapter 4 - Stitching Peaceful Coexistence

"What a beautiful settlement you have built here elder." 

"Thank you general. It was built with blood, sweat, and tears of our people. It is our shelter, our home, and our future." 

The settlement was organized in a shape of a crescent moon, with the space inside the sickle acting as a public square. Each "house" was a shell from a giant seed, a pod emptied of its contents and transformed into livable space. The settlement was brimming with various baskets and tools, rudimentary vases and racks for drying cloth. Next to each house was attached a basic water-collector. 

Some villages stood still and watched the new arrivals with apprehension. But others, whose houses were further away from the center, went about their daily tasks. They were too busy with chores to dedicate their time to gawking at the new arrivals. Children were making noise playing and chasing each other, while their parents tried to bring them inside the houses, away from the intruders' eyes. 

Hmmm, they don't seem to be lacking in much. Looks like they have enough basic goods to sustain themselves without issue. But their clothes look quite worn. 

"Where do you get your food from? I don't see any farms or gardens." In the animated series I only remember the lemurs just carrying baskets with fruits back and forth. 

"We primarily get our food supply from gathering edible plants and fruits from nearby. We do not eat prey, but a number of people specialize in hunting skills in order to protect those who are busy gathering."

"Aha." 

While Lok Durd and Tee Wat Kaa conversed, Wag Too approached the pair, leaving Ahsoka alone in her hiding place. 

"Father, are you okay?" 

"Yes. General, this is my son, Wag Too, and the only healer of this village." 

"Pleasure to meet you Wag Too." I should say something to reassure him, but nothing comes to mind... 

The young Lurman nodded towards the general, but still looked with worry at Tee Wat Kaa, unconvinced that his father was not in danger. 

"Go Wag Too, make sure that the curious members of our village keep their distance. I will continue my discussion with General, inside." 

"...Yes, father." 

"Elder, may I station my troops around your residence?"

"If you must." 

"Officer, you heard us. Alert me if you see anyone besides the villagers. Do not shoot before receiving my command or before you have been attacked first!" I left the pilot at the landing ship, so he can hopefully recover from the shock of hearing his superior utter malarkey. 

"Roger roger." 

"Now then, shall we?" 

The pair walked into the largest building in the center of the crescent moon, overlooking the public square. Although decorated with small saplings planted around, as well as colored drapes, it was ultimately just another giant pod, albeit the largest one in the settlement. 

How did they even bring this huge thing to the village? Let alone carts, I don't see even a single wheel-like object. Whatever. Whether they used some elven magic, or they just pulled this oversized shell with the whole village for several kilometers just for this old fart, it doesn't matter. It seems that I have finally gotten through to the elder. What's important is to keep this momentum and negotiate a deal that would avoid making him feel like I am the physical manifestation of evil. 

.

. 

. 

"How is situation with your father? Has he been captured by the Separatists?" 

"I am not sure. The droids have surrounded my family's house, but they are behaving strangely. Father did not make it clear either..." - Wag Too responded to Ahsoka. 

"Why would they bring such a large army and position it at the village? It's clear that they are planning to do something terrible! Let us help you. Perhaps we can at least save your father, or even help everyone flee." 

"I-I am worried about him. But like father said, this is not the way of our people. Plus nothing sinister happened yet. At the very least I want to wait a little longer." 

"But the more you wait -" 

"Ahsoka, come in. How is the situation in the village?" - Skywalker's voice came out of Ahsoka's comlink. 

"Wag Too's father was taken away by the separatists and is currently being held in his house. However the Lurmen continue to refuse my offers of help." 

"It's... Unfortunate Snips, but as long as the Lurmen don't want our help we shouldn't force it upon them. We can only hope that Tee Wah Kaa will be alright." 

"Yes, Master..." 

"For now, return to our position and - !"

Anakin's voice stopped for a moment. A few seconds later he could be heard less clearly, giving commands to those next to him:

"I'm fine, just go! Destroy that spy droid!" Then more clearly: 

"Ahsoka, stay hidden at the village for now. We are pursuing a spy droid so it might be difficult to meet up." Right after those words, a familiar sound followed indicating the end of the transmission. 

"Maste - . Ugh, looks like I'll be separated from others for longer than I expected." 

. 

. 

. 

"Although the device I plan to test is quite powerful, I can guarantee that it will be used a long distance away from the settlement. It's range, although significant, is limited to several kilometers at most (based on what I can estimate from the cartoon). We will inform you of the location of the test, to make sure that no civilians will be present there by accident."

"I understand. Is that all? If that is something you already decided to do General, I don't see what else we need to talk about." - said the old Lurman with a hint of scorn.

"Oh yes, please let me continue. Although it is something that has been decided, I would like to get your official approval. We will also need... Large organic forms to test our weapon's - cough cough - our device's effectiveness on non-plant living matter." 

As Elder Tee Wah Kaa's brows began to frown, Lok Durd quickly jumped in:

"...Which is why I have an idea. Given your people's hunting abilities, I would like to hire your services in catching the predatory fauna of this planet, and using it to test our device's effectiveness. In return for your permission and your services, I would like to offer a variety of resources of your choice." 

"In other words, you want us to risk our lives catching dangerous wild animals so that you could kill them with your weapon? I am sorry, but I am not going to ask my people to comply with your request. We also have no need of your bribe. This settlement is fully self-sufficient. As long as we have our homes and each other, we can procure things from this planet to satisfy our basic needs."

Gah, he just casually calls my offer a bribe.

"I believe that this trade will be very beneficial for your village. I won't ask for your people to risk their lives beyond how much danger they already experience daily. You mentioned that although your do not consume animals, your hunters catch them when defending gatherers. What do you do with the animals afterwards?" 

"After the hunters catch them and tie them up, we take them some distance away from the settlement and let them go."

"Then how about instead of letting them go, you would simply give them to me? Naturally, if some hunters decide to catch extra, I will only welcome it. But in any case, you would be getting benefits simply for doing the work you were already doing." 

"A tempting offer, however I do not feel inclined to see Lurmen become your butchers for hire. Our rule of non-violence extends even towards wild animals. Plus I don't see what you could offer us that we would be in need of. We are most certainly not interested in your primary commodities - war and suffering."

This cheeky lemur. "Certainly you do not kill the animals. But you are comfortable in defending yourself against them, and hurting them if it means that you won't get hurt. Or do you think that being tied up and dragged is something that the local predators find enjoyable?" 

"Hmph." 

Without getting a clear counter argument, Lok Durd continues: 

"I also believe that there is demand beyond weapons and droids I am capable of meeting. I noticed that the villagers' clothes is rather ragged. Curtains seem to be a luxury." 

"Yes... We have no way of producing cloth at the moment, and our old supplies of clothes is dwindling." 

"Which is where I come in. I believe I have a sufficient supply of cloth to last your village for some time." While on the landing ship, I saw a huge wardrobe that Lok Durd apparently brings everywhere with him. Given his, or rather my proportions, the contents of my dressing room should be enough to sew at least one new outfit for each member of the settlement. Who knew that Lok Durd was such a fashionista. 

"Additionally, I can provide you with engineering tools useful for creating reinforced fences, among other things. (I at least believe we have some, given that droids somehow build a fortified base in one of the episodes). Given the fact that your village doesn't have a fence yet, building one could significantly improve security." 

Tee Wah Kaa's facial expression shifted from furrowed brows and a look of certainty, to a more relaxed disposition. He began stroking his chin while looking somewhere to the side, visibly considering General's proposal. 

About an hour more of persuading, debating, and arguing took Lok Durd to finally seal the deal. He was able to negotiate a mutually-beneficial agreement through neither threats nor physical force.

By receiving official permission from the village chief to conduct experiments, and by contributing to the prosperity of the village, I might just be able to avoid fighting with the Jedi. Or at least that's the goal that I have made some progress towards. Now for the last, slightly riskier part. 

"Before I take my leave, elder, I would like to leave a communication device."

"Is there a need for me to have this? Are you planning to leave this system before finishing your experiments?" 

"No, I plan to stay here. This device is not for you. I am giving it you so that, in case you happen upon any Republic forces and especially Jedi, you would give it to them." 

Tee Wah Kaa froze in place with his hand stuck in the air reaching half way towards the comlink held by Lok Durd. 

"We have no Jedi in our village" - elder responded with a blank expression on his face. 

"Certainly. But just in the extremely unlikely case that you encounter them in the future, I would like you to give them this device and inform them that my channel is open for communication. Even during war, it is important for the two opposing sides to maintain at least a minimum level of contact. Leaving space for diplomacy is vital." 

The elder took a second to consider Lok Durd's words, silently nodded his head, and reanimated his frozen hand back to life, subsequently taking the comlink from the general. 

"Now then, if you will excuse me, I must depart back to base. This discussion has been most productive. Until we meet again."

"Safe travels General."

Outside of the village chief's house the officer droid approached Lok Durd. 

"Ehm General, we have lost contact with one of our spy droids in the vicinity."

"Spy droid... Spy droid?! When did you send out spy droids?"

"I have done so soon after we landed, as part of a standard procedure." 

Gueh. This means that if things go mostly according to the tv series, Anakin and his team will follow the droid and discover our base in the process. We need to hurry back to our outpost to make sure that our forces there are large enough to deter Anakin from conducting an assault. At least temporarily. 

"My business is done here. The experiment will proceed without issues. Officer, organize the droids we have with us. We will be returning to the landing ship and going back to our base. Make haste. Also, in the future, inform me before you give commands on your own, even if your actions involve standard procedure." 

"Haa... Roger roger" - although the droid didn't have eye sockets, it felt like he just rolled his eyes. 

. 

. 

. 

Wag Too watched the Separatist general leave the chief's house and the droids march back towards their landing craft. 

"Father, are you okay?!" - shouted the young Lurman after running into the large pod. 

"Wag Too? Yes, I'm okay. I have secured peace for our village." 

"I see. I am glad to see you unharmed, but... Peace? You have secured peace only for a moment, and at what price? Should we really not rely on the Jedi?" 

"Well, the price turned out to be surprisingly modest. I will tell you the details a bit later. First, tell me - have the Jedi left the village?"

"Yes. However, one of them came back to check on the situation in the village and make another offer of help." Tee Wah Kaa's face suddenly took on a somber expression, his eyes gazing menacingly. 

"Did something bad happen?" 

The elder ignored the question. "Call them here, I need to talk to them about something, promptly."