"I had to hear 20 complaints today, but I heartens me to see that the next generation is leaving the events of 18 years ago in the past-- even if their parents are having trouble doing that. Our village suffered such a fall in morale that I despaired of life ever returning to normal."
"What's 'morale?'" Nila asked seriously, looking up into her mother's bright blue eyes.
"Well, it's like a person's mood," her mother answered. "It's how confident someone feels."
"Our village doesn't feel confident?" Nila returned in confusion.
"Well, the older people of the village have felt a bit wary for many years now," Nila's mother explained. "But who could blame them? When their own chief would do nothing in retaliation against those who stole his most-prized possession, it was hard for them to feel protected and proud of their way of life." The warrior-woman stood erect and defiant-- her fisted hands pressing into the dough.
"Now Frada, must we start this again? We had no chance against a-- a creature like Jabba the Hutt! Our people are simple. Even our best warriors wouldn't have stood a chance on a cut-throat-ridden planet like Tatooine! Even you, my dear." Fairspeaker said starting out emotionally, but ending in a quieter tone. "Isn't it bad enough that so many girls from the village keep leaving our planet of their own free will to seek adventure on that planet? What's one Twi'lek daughter to a thing like Jabba?"
By this time Nila's ears were pricked up, and she was just waiting for a chance to jump in with more questions. She watched her parents argue back and forth for a few more rounds, and then called, "What's the chief's most-prized possession?" Her parents both turned and looked down at her for a few seconds.
"His daughter Oola, dear." Her mother replied softly.
"Did Jabba the Hutt steal her from the chief?" Nila questioned with big eyes. By this time, the twin sisters were pushing each other into Nila as she stood still trying to listen to what her parents were saying.
"Well, it happened quite a while ago-- it's a sad story in the village's history." Fairspeaker broke in.
"Story! Story! Tell us the story!" the 5-year old twins cried, jumping up and down-- almost knocking the bag of flour from Nila's arms. Frada gave a steady look at her husband and then turned back to her dough. Fairspeaker sighed and nodded.
"Come in the other room with me and I'll tell you about the chief's daughter." He lead the three girls to a room filled with cushions, and they all sat down on the floor with their legs folded. The girls' eyes were shiny with excitement as they looked up at their father expectantly.
Fairspeaker drew in a breath and began. "18 years ago, the chief had a beautiful daughter named Oola." At this the twins sighed "ooooh�" "She was his only child, and he had been preparing her to take his place someday. One day, Oola left with a group of men from the village to go to a town nearby where machine-parts were sold. At the town, Oola wandered from the group of men and found a tavern. She was very curious about faraway places-- as many Twi-lek girls have been-- and went in to see what she could see. Well, there weren't many females in that bar, and it seems that her beauty attracted the attention of a very bad man. A man named Bib Fortuna-- Jabba the Hutt's right-hand man."
"What's a right-hand man?" one of the twins quipped.
"It's someone who a very important or powerful person puts all their trust in." Fairspeaker answered.
"You mean like you?" Nila asked innocently.
"Well, ah, I suppose I could indeed, ah, be considered the chief's right-hand man by many people, " the advisor stammered. Clearing his throat, he continued on with the story. "Bib Fortuna was always on the look-out for interesting and exotic gifts to bring to his master Jabba. In fact, he had recently brought Jabba a huge monster called a rancor for his birthday." The girls nodded with troubled looks on their faces. They'd heard stories about rancors before. "So when Bib took one look at Oola, he knew she would be a perfect gift for Jabba. Bib whispered commands to his guards, and within minutes they had the struggling Oola tossed into their ship, and left Ryloth for their planet, Tatooine." The girls were sitting in complete silence with their undivided attention centered on their father.
"Once they were back at Jabba's palace, Bib ordered that Oola be taught to dance, and let her know that she would be dancing for her life. That if she pleased Jabba, he would probably let her live. Soon Oola found herself chained to that disgusting worm-like blob, and was constantly made to dance for Jabba and his guests." Nila cut into the story with "Didn't the men back on Ryloth go looking for her? Did they find out she'd been kidnapped? What did the chief do?"
Fairpeaker looked sad and worn when he answered her questions. "Yes, the Twi-lek men went looking for Oola, and they traced her back to the tavern where the barkeeper told them everything that had happened. The men immediately raced home to find out what the chief's plan would be get his daughter back�"
"�but the chief had no plan, and his daughter was left to dance for Jabba for the remainder of her short life." Frada finished, entering the room and standing aloof in the corner. Fairspeaker was about to respond to his wife's blunt remark, but turned back around to face his daughters instead.
"Yes, your mother is right," he told his daughters. "I argued with the chief for weeks-- proposing the warriors' many strategies to the chief-- but he always found a flaw in the plans. It seemed like a part of him died when he heard his daughter had been given to Jabba. In reality, very, very few people escape from Jabba's palace once they're given to him as gifts."
"Han Solo did!" one twin shouted optimistically.
"And Princess Leia! And her brother Luke Skywalker saved them all!" the other finished.
"Yes, Luke was very brave," Fairspeaker nodded. "It was he and his sister who killed Jabba and destroyed Jabba's evil empire." But despite that, he was not able to save Oola."
"What happened to Oola?" Nila asked nervously.
"Jabba liked to entertain his guests, and one of his favorite means of entertainment was executing his slaves. It seems that Jabba's pet rancor was hungry, so while Oola was dancing and trying to please Jabba, he opened the rancor-pit and dropped her inside." Audible gasps of horror came from the open mouths of the little daughters as they pictured the terror Oola must have faced in her last moments.
"The rancor ate Oola?" one twin whispered as the other twin clutched at her sister's hands.
"That is the terrible tragedy that has lowered the morale of this village. That a clan-chief's daughter could be abducted by a crime-boss, and no one could help save her." The wheels in Nila's head began turning quickly as she decided what she wanted to do when she grew up.
12 years later, Nila Fairspeaker stood gazing out of a window of the New Republic's Jedi headquarters on Coruscant, reminiscing back to her childhood days on Ryloth. She had heard the rumors that a new Sith was lurking about the galaxy, and that this Sith had killed at least 4 reputable Jedi in a short period of time. She had been chosen-- maybe by Luke Skywalker, himself-- to be the negotiator in a detachment that would be leaving shortly to try to find out the truth behind the emergence of the Sith, and the coincidental re-organization efforts of the Empire.
"Counselor Fairspeaker, Keranda is ready to leave." Nila's reverie was broken as she glanced over at the messenger who had approached her without her notice.
"Thank you. I'm on my way." Nila fastened her robes about her more securely, and made her way to the loading bay.
