Vow of Silver Dawn Chapter 9

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STAR WARS: Silver Vow
Chapter 9: Confusing Right and Wrong
By 国王陛下, Translated by 74translations
Notes at the end

In the original plan, Shawn was to head for the control room to slice into its systems, and collect evidence from every nook and cranny in the estate. Even if he didn't find anything concrete, one could still write papers on the communications block itself, so it was a shame that that particular opportunity was no longer available.

Shawn had predicted that by this time the President might've recovered and resumed his meeting——after all, it was only a mild allergic reaction, so the estate's medical staff should've been able to fix him up almost immediately. He also expected that after recovering, the President might access the security comms, so as to personally direct his staff.

But he hadn't anticipated that the President's first act after recovering would be to contact the watchman!

These past few days, Shawn had immersed himself in the staff gossip; He already knew the President was the highly paranoid type, likely to be even more so after getting poisoned——despite the lack of danger to his life——so he assume that there wasn't a chance that he'd still trust the watchman who had let in the dessert chef to begin with.

So for the time being, even if he wanted to make use of the Mandalorian, surely he'd only send him to track down the poisoner instead of calling him to his side?

While walking as quickly as he could back to the dining hall, Shawn lost himself in thought, pondering the reason for his recall.

As a person of rather mediocre aptitude, he wasn't so arrogant to assume that he could account for everything. It was natural that there would be unexpected circumstances. But the more the plan had to change, the more one could not afford to miss any details, especially that which was abnormal.

	And at the moment, there was nothing more abnormal than the President recalling him!

	Why had the President recalled the watchman? Had he already seen through his disguise? That was extremely unlikely, the security cameras in the vicinity of the electrical room and garbage chute had been disabled, and none of his underlings had displayed any signs of that they had noticed anything amiss, and as cunning, treacherous, and devoid of a conscience as he might be, Jamie Blassen was only a politician, not some omniscient seer.

	Perhaps he was simply extremely terrified, had already lost his cool, and just wanted the mansion's most fearsome warrior at his side?

Yet that wasn't right either. If the communication just now was anything to go by, while the President was weak, he was still quite calm, and certainly didn't sound like he thought of himself as being in any danger.

	So, again, what purpose could recalling the watchman to the dining hall possibly serve?

	It wasn't long until he was right in front of the dining hall, and Shawn knew he had little time left, but it was at this moment Shawn heard through the heavy Mandalorian helmet the noise from inside the dining hall, and that gave him a flash of inspiration.

That was it!

	This banquet was Jamie Blassen's largest meeting in years, with the heads of the fourteen largest crime organizations of the Bergamore and neighbouring systems in attendance.  If he could earn their approval, Jamie Blassen's influence and power could spread far beyond just Bergamore.

	Yet in front of all his guests, he had suffered an allergic reaction from an innocent little dessert, and in doing so, had turned as red as any of the Bergamore shrimp that were served on his table.

	This doubtlessly was an enormous blow to his prestige. After waking up, Jamie Blassen would have seen and heard the doubt and perhaps even the contempt of the crime bosses, and with his dining hall brought to an uproar, he would need to quickly re-establish his dignity.

	When it came to one's reputation, there was nothing simpler or better for it than an execution, and Jamie Blassen always made sure to give the impression of being quite a clever politician, but for all his cruelty, it still seemed he lacked what it would take to impress upon the crime bosses the respect he deserved, and to that end, it seemed that he was ready to use the Mandalorian!

	If he would dare to kill a Mandalorian, what else could possibly be beyond him?

	Having only just awoken after being poisoned, his first reaction was apparently to want to shoot dead the Mandalorian whose error it had been; that would be sufficient to make up for any failing on his part!

	Shawn took the length of two footsteps to completely think this through, and soon was met with the dining hall's entrance, whose exquisite doors began to open inwards.

	After only a moment, Shawn immediately raised the muzzle of his blaster, and to everyone's astonishment, blasted the medical droid that stood at the President's side.

	The FX6 that had been brought to the dining hall by his doctor for the emergency didn't even have time to sound an alarm before the blast had penetrated its core and melted its internals, leaving behind only a smoldering hole.

	In this moment, Jamie Blassen, who had been standing adjacent, felt his mind go blank, and the hand that had reached for the blaster hidden under the table went slack, allowing the blaster to clatter to the ground.

	Shawn took the opportunity to step forth, shouting loudly as he walked, "Do not be alarmed! Our infiltrator in the dining hall has been dealt with!"

	The guards stationed inside the dining hall seemed completely at a loss, not knowing where they ought to be aiming their blasters, if at all.

Shawn absentmindedly waved them off, "Don't embarrass yourselves in front of our guests, it was just a bit of espionage."

In the time it took for him to speak, Shawn had already made it to the President's side, and seeing that the politician had already recomposed himself in such a short amount of time, he couldn't help but feel a little impressed.

For the average person, having a blaster bolt impact right by their ear might be cause enough for them to soil their trousers, but his man had only dropped the blaster he held, seemingly otherwise entirely unperturbed.

How appropriate for someone used to slaughter.

Shawn quickly corrected his impression of Jamie Blassen, before lashing out with his fist, his metal glove sinking into the FX6's smoldering cavity. Spreading his fingers out, he found a twisted, deformed computer chip.

Having prepared for his audience a most flawless performance, Shawn explained to the President, while clutching some deformed computer chip, "This is a recording chip. This is the crux of the infiltration... my apologies, sir, I only now just came to the realization."

Jamie Blassen furrowed his brows, "A recording chip?"

Shawn waved over one of the security guards, and threw to him the chip, and suggested that he take that to an engineer, before replying to the President, “Additionally, this droid's database is likely to have been hacked, it's database rewritten. It ought to be responsible for all that the kitchen serves, and yet it failed to detect the presence of that which could trigger an allergic reaction, which is unusual in and of itself. It took me a moment to realize that the dessert chef was such an obvious bait, and that the FX6 was where my attention really ought to have been focused.”

The President nodded slowly, "That makes sense. If it were poison, I might've died, but it was only an allergic reaction. And yet the FX6, the thing in the mansion best equipped to deal with these things, fails to notice it..."

	As he spoke, the doctor that was standing behind the president, already shaking nervously, collapsed the ground.

The President paid the man no mind, and continued on, "So, to have this modified FX6 at my side when I awoke, given the possibility that I, in a haze, might say or do something irrational, then the FX6 would then be present to record as evidence against me... It'd certainly be more useful than killing me, and it bears all the hallmarks of a certain sort of person, is that right?

Calmly turning to face the President, Shawn lazily replied, "That Quarren is entirely transparenta."

"On this world, everything is transparent to me," agreed the President, before sighing.

Shawn mirrored him.

Jamie Blassen truly was a cunning sort, to think he already suspected…

Well, it'd be stranger if he wasn't suspicious; He doubted that the original watchman would've done something so extreme to the FX6. And that was on top of the fact that he spent all his time encased in his shell, which would naturally make people question his true identity.

In fact, as far as the watchman was concerned, the President feared that he might have never actually been a Mandalorian. So it was good that he name-dropped the Quarren to divert attention, as the alternative would have been too horrible to contemplate.

Thanks to Mr. Squawk's mistakes in the compiling of his report on Bergamore, it allowed Shawn to determine that his identity had long since been revealed to Jamie Blassen, which meant that name-dropping the Quarren was just what was needed to calm the President.

Jamie Blassen brought his attention back upon the watchman, his mind shifting to other issues.

Even if he had doubts, at this very moment, compared to his misgivings, there was a more important crisis taking place right under his nose.

Jamie Blassen really had no choice.

"My friends, I apologize that you all had to witness that, and I'm sure you're all wondering: Is this Jamie Blassen person trustworthy? So, to that end, I intend to restore my credibility. Please observe, if that is to your interest.”

After finishing, the President reached out and tapped the dining table twice. After a moment, a blue holographic projection appeared at the centre.

The projected figure was a figure wreathed in black robes. Speaking huttese, the figure greeted the President.

"Mister B, how might I be of assistance?" At this point, the black-robed figure looked around with surprise, "This is unexpected, Mister B, you've never called with others in attendance before..."

"You can dispense with the pleasantries, I have a simple task for you."

The President cleared his throat, "You know of the Silver Sail Commerce Group? Have the food of its board of directors poisoned. Don't leave a single one alive, and plant evidence implicating Daylight Pharmaceutical."

Once he was finished talking, the guests in attendance couldn't help but whisper among themselves.

Shawn was also incredibly surprised.

The President's actions were more extreme than anticipated, but... given how much the plan had already deviated, this sort of surprise was more or less normal now.

Both Silver Sail Commerce Group and Daylight Pharmaceutical were both among the few large companies on Bergamore, and their influence was immense, and yet in the end both found themselves opposed to President Jamie Blassen.

Indeed, upon hearing the mission, the black-robed figure was silent for an uncomfortably long time, before finally saying, "Mister B, this will not be easy."

"But can you do it?" the President asked.

"Of course, there are none who are not subject to your will on Bergamore. You will see results within three days."

The hologram blinked off once he had finished.

The President sighed, before weakly, yet confidently, offering a smile, "So, gentlemen, are we satisfied with the arrangements?"

There was a pregnant pause as many of the guests remained silent.

The silence was finally broken when one of the shorter crime bosses finally spoke up, "Mister President, your style of execution is truly unforgettable."

"If had been possible, I'd have preferred to spend our banquet together in a much gentler fashion, but regrettably, the galaxy is full of surprises... Mando, have you captured the dessert chef yet?

As the President finished speaking and the topic changed, his tone had once again turned cold.

Based on the profile Shawn had built ahead of time, he realized that the President had successfully restored his image to his guests, so next on the docket was to kill anyone who could blab.

The hologram that had just been summoned was not something for just anyone's eyes. For a meticulous, paranoid, cruel, and psychopathic dictator, when it came to killing, it was only natural that one started with those of greatest risk and worked their way down.

Shawn honestly asked himself: of all the outsiders present, who present counted being of the greatest risk? Himself (the Mandalorian), obviously, and killing him would be of the greatest value, but Shawn had already accounted for that.

"My apologies, Your Excellency, but we've yet to..."

The President waved him off, "It's no problem. Here, I'll help you out: Squad three's already tracked his whereabouts from the garbage chute, and as you guessed earlier, he made for one of the small aircraft, but he didn't make it far. Why don't you hurry up and go grab him?"

Shawn feigned doubt, "Squad three? but-"

"They reported directly to me, do you have any other questions?" the President answered, cutting him off.

Shawn shook his head, "I will catch him."

At this, he stepped away, the plates of his heavy armour clanging against one another, echoing through the dining hall.
Translation Notes

a Technically, he describes the Quarren as 不堪一击 “to be unable to withstand a single blow,
 but I’ve translated it otherwise because it sounds hella unwieldy in English in the given context.


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