"Director Claude, I protest—my strongest possible protest!"
Galactic Standard Calendar Year 4, October 3rd, 12:00 noon. After the welcome ceremony in Cloud City's port district ended, Billy Williams charged over and cut Max off. He was so agitated and so aggressive that Christopher Wren nearly ran him clean through.
"Easy." Max slowly withdrew the Force pressure and signaled Christopher Wren to shut his lightsaber down.
"Director Williams, you calm down too. Let's have lunch first. After that, we'll talk in your office."
"Hah…" Billy Williams let out a long breath. "Sorry. I was out of line." He straightened himself. "Chief Executive, the reception banquet is ready. This way, please!"
Coming back this time, Max knew Billy Williams would have opinions. He just hadn't expected them to be this intense.
…
"Rooms near the dome have wide views and beautiful scenery. Director Claude, you said it yourself—those areas were being reserved for tourism. Following your strategic plan, my team and I spent over half a year drafting a detailed development proposal for Cloud City's tourism industry."
"Here—here—and here!" Billy Williams grew more worked up by the second. As he spoke, he strode straight into the holographic projection, waving his arms. "These spots were supposed to be premium hotel suites with panoramic sky views! I already paid people to produce the renderings—everything was ready. The moment the timing was right, we could've launched the project immediately. But what happened?!"
He spread his hands and stared at Max. "One holo-call from you, and you announce the whole zone is being converted into a military barracks. The hotels are gone. The tourism plan you signed off on—now it all has to be torn up and rewritten from scratch. Are you telling me our work is worthless to you?"
"Hey—sorry, sorry. You're right, that one's on me. Please, cool off." Max pressed his palms together and apologized repeatedly. "Chris, get Director Williams a glass of ice water."
"Yes. Director Williams, here."
"Thanks." Billy Williams accepted the glass and dropped back into his seat, still fuming.
"But—here's the thing. Even though I was wrong in how I handled it, the decision itself can't be changed."
"What—" Billy Williams shot to his feet again.
"Sit, sit, sit," Max said, palms down, holding him there. "Director Williams, don't explode—hear me out first. Plans can't always keep up with reality. Who knew that one trip would come back with nearly ten thousand Rishii recruits? Those Rishii are born for open sky. If you stuff them into rooms where they can't see the sky, they'll end up with psychological issues. And then how are they supposed to serve as soldiers?"
"Director Claude, I don't understand military matters. I don't understand psychology or near-human physiology either. I only want to ask you one question."
"The Mandalorian Armed Forces may not interfere in Cloud City's local production and commerce. Cloud City's local administration may not interfere in the Mandalorian Armed Forces' command and deployments. When one side needs the other's cooperation, requests must go through the Military–Civil Coordination Leadership Group. Cross-system command is strictly forbidden. That's your Military–Civil Coordination Framework—personally drafted by you."
"You bypassed the coordination group and directly intervened in local production and commerce. Isn't that you taking the lead in violating your own framework? Isn't your administrative order an unlawful, noncompliant directive?"
"Whoa—no, you can't put it like that." Max waved both hands. "I'm not only the Supreme Commander of the Bespin Mandalorian Armed Forces—I'm also Cloud City's Chief Executive. As Chief Executive, issuing an administrative order to Cloud City—how is that violating the military–civil framework?"
Bang!
Billy slammed the cup onto the desk and stood up hard. "Even if you are Chief Executive, this order is still a high-handed, authoritarian mess. A team's half-year of work isn't worth as much as you having a sudden idea. If you keep doing whatever you want like this, Cloud City is going to fall apart sooner or later!"
"Director Williams—sometimes truth isn't necessarily held by the majority. You have to trust me—"
"Trust you? Trust you in what?" Billy cut him off. "Trust your talent with the Force? Even the Jedi Temple has a Jedi Council to discuss matters. They follow minority-to-majority decisions. They don't do one-man rule like you!"
"Uh…" Max choked on the reply.
"And there's more," Billy pressed, not letting up. "The Force probably isn't as all-powerful as you think. If the Force really solved everything, then with all those Jedi Masters who've mastered it—how did the Galactic Republic still end up in this state, getting worse by the day?"
Those words hit like a sledgehammer. Billy Williams was right. Max really had been blinded by power. He'd become far too self-assured.
"Director Williams." Max stood up too and clasped Billy's hands tightly. "What you said makes a lot of sense. Thank you—seriously—for pulling me up short."
"Then… your order—"
"The barracks order cannot be rescinded. I need you to assist me and complete the construction as quickly as possible."
"What—" Billy panicked, trying to wrench his hands free, but Max held him in place like iron.
"Director Williams, listen. I want to draft a policy to patch a loophole in Cloud City's system."
"First, I'll be blunt with you: in the future, there will be more Chief Executive emergency orders—orders like 'convert this zone into barracks immediately.' But I want to establish an accountability mechanism, and I want your input."
"If I invoke the Chief Executive's highest authority and issue an emergency order, the local administration must still fully cooperate and execute. However, after the order is concluded, the local administration has the right to initiate an accountability review. If three emergency orders in a row—or five emergency orders in total—cause negative impact to Cloud City, then the local administration may convene a general assembly to discuss amending the system and restricting the Chief Executive's powers."
"Of course, 'three' and 'five' are just proposals. The exact numbers can be negotiated. What do you think?"
"Hah… Chief Executive, it sounds nice." Billy Williams sighed and shook his head heavily. "But Cloud City has no real ability to constrain you—because you control the guns. If you make three or five mistakes and then, out of spite, expand your unilateral power even further… what can we do about it?"
"Let go, Director Claude. I'll fully cooperate on the barracks construction."
…
"Chief?"
"Chris… you go out first—no. Sit down. Stay with me and meditate."
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