I raised an eyebrow, looking from Mon Mothma's face back to Admiral Ackbar, unsure of how to respond. I was obviously interested in such a large reward, but again, it was obvious that we were being sweet-talked.

  "One million credits?" I asked to confirm, leaning forward slightly. "I appreciate your generosity. We accept, assuming there aren't any caveats?"

  "Of course not," Mon Mothma assured me. "Speaking in terms into the fine print only works when both sides are required to follow the letter of the law. I have no doubt if I sprung some sort of condition or attached a favor, you would simply say no. Probably before leaving."

  "Not entirely inaccurate," I confirmed. "And we would definitely leave. The only question is how rude we would be as we went."

  That got a chuckle from Wedge, the pilot quickly stifling the noise, looking down at his plate, pretending to focus on the food. I smiled and nodded to Luke, before focusing on Mon Mothma. For a moment, I debated the pros and cons of being subtle and being blunt, before going with what I preferred.

  "There may not be any hidden obligations or required favors, but there is definitely something," I said. "I apologize for being blunt, I don't have the same political origin as you, but there is something going on. What are you aiming for?"

  Now it was the native's turn to chuckle, hers significantly more delicate than Wedge's. She put down her napkin and leaned back slightly in her chair, just enough to be noticeable.

  "I suppose I should feel refreshed with your desire to cut through the politics," she said. "And I can't say I am surprised. You're more of a businessman than a politician, and while they can be similar, most businessmen value their time much more. After all, in most business, time is money."

  I nodded in agreement, but before I could comment, Mon Mothma continued. I had assumed it would take more cajoling and prompting to cut the chase, but she appeared to be ready immediately.

  "As Admiral Ackbar stated, the rate at which you provide ships is impressive. You have proven your skill, and the quantity of ships we have gained from you has been a pleasant boon," She stated before wincing slightly. "There is, however, a problem. Our budget is not unlimited. And while we desperately need ships… we cannot afford to purchase them at the rate you provide them. I'm sure you are aware, but we have spent nearly fifty million credits on ships and supplies you have gathered for us. While we may have several deep-pocketed supporters… keeping up with the rate in which you provide puts a serious strain on our efforts."

  I frowned, leaning back in my chair. Her statement wasn't exactly a surprise. I knew at some point that they would start to have issues with money, but this was much sooner than I feared. This was a rather significant problem. We depended on them quite a bit for our revenue, and while we were investing in our own infrastructure on Nirn, it would be at least several months before any significant percentage of our essential supplies could be locally sourced. Not to mention that all that development costs money. The bottom line was that if we lost our income, we would rather quickly start to run out of money, which meant our growth would stop, and our supplies would run dry.

  "I assume that by the way you are presenting this to me, this is more than just a warning that you won't be able to buy as many ships," I responded, eyes locked on Mon Mothma's.

  "You would be correct."

  "That… is an issue," I repeated. "You want our ships, but you cannot pay for them. So, what, you are here to look for alternative means?"

  "That is also correct."

  "What exactly are you looking for?" I asked with a frown. "I understand the problem, but you know I can't just give you the ships for free, or even cut them down to the level we would have before. That ship has long left its berth."

  "We are aware. What we are hoping is that we can find a solution," the Rebel leader explained. "One that makes both sides happy. We recognize this is a difficult situation, and we do apologize for it."

  I leaned back and crossed my arms, a frown on my face. For a long moment, I said nothing, considering everything I had just learned. Had they not just made a rather large purchase from us, almost ten million credits in total, if you include the deal from before the rescue mission, I would be a lot more upset about them using this opportunity to bring something like this up.

  "Are you looking for a solution, or are you looking to beg for free equipment?" I asked. "Because if it's the latter, you're doing one hell of a shit job at it."

  "I don't disagree," Mon Mothma admitted with a frown. "We have no power, no moral high ground, no point of argument. And yet, we are here, not openly asking for handouts, but uncomfortably close to it."

  "And you're willing to make such an admission to us? You run this operation, Mon Mothma, isn't a small start-up mercenary company beneath you?"

  "Perhaps, but as said, your growth has been all but exponential. In just a handful of months, you went from being captured by the Hutts as a slave to having secured an impressive fleet of ships, employing several teams of skilled commandos, arming them with advanced weapons and armor, and gathering the largest group of Jedi since before the end of the Clone Wars, discovering a hidden planet, and starting a colony that seems to be rapidly growing," She said, pausing to let everything she had just said sink in. "The outer rim adores your people, and you have made a name for yourselves as a force to be reckoned with, no matter the situation."

  "We were fools to not take you seriously before," Princess Leia volunteered. "And now, despite having no ground to stand on, we are asking for another chance."

  "Your contribution to the Rebellion has been impressive," Admiral Ackbar continued. "You have provided us with more starships than any of our asset-gathering groups even when combining quite a few of them, despite only operating for a fraction of the time. That is something we desperately need."

  I sat there on the opposite side of the table, my mind crunching through everything they were saying.

  On one hand, this was everything I was hoping would happen. The very highest levels of the Rebellion, coming to me as equals, realizing their mistakes and apologizing for them. On the other hand, in the same breath, they were asking me to lower our prices, to bow to their needs, perhaps even going lower than we had been before. That was unacceptable, now more than ever. I had an entire colony, depending on the credits we brought in.

  "We cannot offer anything for free," I said, locking eyes with Mon Mothma. "That is not on the table and will never be on the table."

  "Of course not," Mon Mothma agreed with a nod. "That is not what we are looking for. We just need... a level of flexibility for what you are willing to accept."

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  "I understand that. While I cannot offer you anything even approaching free… There is no reason why we cannot profit together," I suggested, a frown still on my face. "You say you can no longer afford our normal prices. What exactly is your limit? If I had a hypothetical starfighter fairly priced at a hundred thousand credits, could you pay seventy-five percent? Fifty? Less?"

  Mon Mothma seemed to struggle with a response, my blunt question no doubt throwing her off. As a politician, her instinct to negotiate, to drive to the best deal for the Rebellion, which made a question like this impossible to answer. I couldn't exactly blame her. After all, if I had the same political mind as her, I would likely have done the same thing. Thankfully, Admiral Ackbar could speak my language much better.

  "Fifty percent," He said simply, ignoring a harsh look from Mon Mothma. "Less for more expensive ships, likely with a correlation to just how high the price is. Your hypothetical ship for fifty thousand would be easy, but buying a larger ship worth twenty-four of them for even a million credits would likely not be possible."

  "Right… well, first, I can offer a significant discount for access to your intelligence network. And I don't just mean the occasional report," I said after letting out a long breath. "I mean significant integration, stationing a team here, with access to General Draven and his reports. I don't need to know the names of his agents or anything like that, but having access to the sanitized information could provide us with more targets, and help keep us safe."

  "General Draven will hate that to the depths of his very soul," Princess Leia pointed out. "Every aspect of that will likely disgust him."

  "Then replace him with someone who understands the situation better," I responded with a shrug. "Again, I don't need to know anything that would put his people in danger. But knowing about things like fleet movements or patrol schedules could drastically increase our effectiveness. And it would be worth… a permanent ten percent discount."

  "Fifteen percent… And I will personally guarantee that the integration goes smoothly and that General Draven understands the situation properly," Mon Mothma counteroffered, leaning forward and bridging her hands. "I understand you have run afoul of Draven's… particular attitude before, but he is the best we have, and since that means your information will be better you should want him where he is."

  "Fair, but I'm not the one who needs convincing," I said, raising my hands and shrugging. "It's discount. If General Draven fucks it up and doesn't deliver, the discount disappears."

  "Fair enough," Mon Mothma agreed, clearly waiting for me to continue. "Assuming you maintain a significant flow of ships."

  "Agreed. Second… we will stop selling you starfighters and-"

  "Woah, wait a second-"

  "Deacon, that's-

  "I do not believe-"

  I snapped my fingers, and a spark of electricity cracked loudly between them, silencing everyone instantly. I paused, looking at everyone to emphasize that I wanted them to stay quiet before starting over again.

  "We will stop selling you starfighters and small freighters for several reasons," I said, pausing a moment before continuing. "For one thing, their prices add up quickly because, at this point, we can easily capture at least two squadrons every few weeks. That's millions of credits you guys, by your own words, can't afford."

  Admiral Ackbar winced as I correctly pointed out the issue, while Wedge and Luke, the other two people to speak up, continued to look concerned.

  "On top of that, they are by far the easiest things for us to sell outside of the Rebellion. We already have plans to set up sales yards on a few Outer Rim planets," I explained, shrugging as I couldn't help the truth. "Starfighters and freighters that are in good condition, with a good reputation behind them, will sell quickly. Cruisers, gunboats, and anything larger will not. Lastly, and most importantly for you, the Rebellion can already produce your own starfighters, which means that not getting access to our equipment won't cripple you. The money you save could be better spent elsewhere, namely larger ships that you would have a much more difficult time making."

  "While your reasoning is sound, we rely heavily on starfighters,' Admiral Ackbar said. "They are the backbone of our forces. Your large-scale delivery of starfighters was well worth the cost."

  "And yet here we are, you trying to convince me to hand over the fruits of my people's hard work for increasingly little credits," I pointed out, my voice taking an edge as I thumped the table. "If the issue is a lack of funds, then cutting one of the costs completely will allow you to spend them on other things. You cannot have your cake and eat it, too, and I refuse to let you pick and choose as you will, leaving us with ships that won't sell. You want us to make acceptions? This is the cost."

  The room went silent for a long time. Mon Mothma and Princess Leia were resigned, while I could see the gears whirring in Ackbars head. Luke, Wedge, and Hobbie all looked subdued as well, with the former shaking his head slightly, though his disappointment wasn't directed at anyone at the table. Most likely, he was cursing the circumstances that brought us to this point.

  "Is there anything we could help you with?" Princess Leia eventually asked after a minute of silence had passed. "I know we are asking for much, but we truly do not want to lose your support."

  "I don't know, Your Highness," I responded with a frown. "I haven't exactly had the most time to think about this. I'm quick, but that only gets me so far."

  The Alderanian princess winced, looking properly chastised as I leaned back in my chair.

  "I believe that is a fair point," Mon Mothma admitted. "My intent was not to solve this issue immediately but rather to present the issue and allow both sides time to consider possible solutions. Admiral Deacon's quick thinking with the idea of intelligence sharing caught me off guard."

  "Good. In that case, we will head back to our ship," I said, standing up from my chair, trying to portray an air of disappointment and frustration, rather than pure anger. "I suggest we reconvene in the morning. That should give us plenty of time for my team to discuss possible solutions."

  "Thank you, Admiral Deacon, for your patience and understanding," Mon Mothma said, standing with me before giving me an actual bow, going lower than I would have expected from her. "I assure you the Rebellion is ready to do what it can to mitigate the loss in pure credits. We just need to find a solution that we can all agree on."

  I nodded in agreement before leaving. Rather than just storming out, I made a point of shaking everyone's hands, Tatnia and Nal following my lead before I led my people out of the dining hall. From there, we were escorted outside, taking the usual route before being dropped off at the Chariot. All of us headed to the lounge area, sitting down around the table.

  "Racer, work with Calima to set up a hyperwave with as many leaders as you can, get them all together," I instructed, the droid spinning up from his position by the bridge entrance. "If they gather up on the that would work. Otherwise, get them to their respective ships. I want as many broad opinions on this as we can get."

  After the droid whistled in confirmation, he made his way to the bridge, leaving the rest of us behind. I sat down heavily in my chair, leaning on the table with my elbows, and rubbing my face.

  "Boss… how angry are we right now?" Julus asked, sounding concerned and unsure. "I understand that fewer credits are objectively bad, but this seems like a good chance to work them for other things, kinda like how you got the planetary shield."

  "Access to their intelligence network was smart, Du D'bhem," Ahsoka said, patting my shoulder. "That will certainly make finding Imperial targets easier and safer. And potentially more profitable."

  "Thanks," I said, letting out a long breath and sitting back in my chair. "To answer your question, Julus, I'm not mad. It's frustrating, but with the amount of stuff we have sold them, I'm not surprised they've started to hit the limit they can spend on us reasonably. In all honesty, I'm glad they came to us like that rather than the alternative, which would be to just buy half as much stuff. This way, at least, we have input and an opportunity to get something out of it. Yes, we will be selling our stuff at a steep discount, but as long as we handle this properly, we can make this into a positive rather than a massive issue."

  "We just need to figure out what to ask for," Tatnia added. "Find the right thing they are willing to do or give up, and suddenly we are in the green again."

  "Which means it's now our job to get our money's worth, literally," I said. "It's also a bit of a wake-up call. We have been much to reliant on them for our income. No more hemming and hawing about if we should or what the perfect setup would be. I want at least a few sale yards set up to sell our small stuff, and I want someone, or even multiple people with resources and contacts, who can sell and buy bigger ships."

  My crew was nodding in agreement, and I knew, generally, most of the other people in the Skyforged would agree with the idea of diversifying. It would take a bit, but within a few weeks, we could start selling to a much broader customer base, even if it was just the small stuff.

  "For now, though... We have all night and into tomorrow to figure out the best combination of demands to keep dealing with the Rebellion worth the time and effort. Let's get to work."