"Some, yes. A proper three dimensional star map would be better, and is the preferred format. This is missing some of the nuance. But as a basic overview, it's mostly accurate."

"Three dimensional projections aren't household staples, alas. So this is promising, lots of not-interstellar-war to colonize."

"Yes. But you're also not along any major trade routes, so you're largely on your own, especially for mapping hyperspace routes. Which would mean little economic aid."

"I think we need the planets more than we need the aid, but maybe I'm guessing wrong about how hard it is to map routes."

"If they were easy, there would be routes mapped to the entire galaxy," says Envee, a little wryly. "It can often be dangerous for the explorers, and it's tricky to know which routes are actually stable and safe without a lot of trial and error. If you're wrong in your calculations, you can collide with stars or planetary bodies or other galactic hazards at high speed. Explorers tend to prefer to branch smaller hyperspace routes from longer, more established ones, so they can be assured of resupply if something moves unexpectedly and they find their path cut off. That way they are guaranteed a resupply location."

"Makes sense."

"What makes you say that you need the planets more than the aid?" wonders Envee, curiously.

"We're under some serious population pressure."

"Oh. Is your species's natural birthrate significantly higher than replacement?"

"Yep."

"Ah. Is this a stable sort of serious population pressure, or are you desperately in need of resources immediately or half your population dies?"

"We've got internationally enforced population controls. But people are deeply unhappy."

"The pressure is psychological more than biological?"

"Right, we have working birth control."

Envee nods. "That sounds unpleasant, I'm sorry. Do you divide the population controls by caste, or something else?"

"Caste, yeah."

"What are the castes?"

"Blue, green, yellow, grey, orange, purple. Red."

"Are they — above one another, in that order, or not? Do they all have different jobs?"

"Not exactly, but approximately. And yes." He lists jobs and other useful Amenta facts.

So informative! This kind of thing is fascinating, and Envee enjoys hearing about it.

It's also very useful information for someone else to have. Best to know the environment, after all.

All right, so there are people on this planet who sound like they're desperate to get off of it, and she's landed with their ticket off world. On one hand, if she leverages this appropriately, this is an excellent bargaining position. On the other hand, she's stranded on a foreign planet with four noncombatants and a hunk of very valuable slag, and an entire planet's worth of people that might decide that negotiating takes too long. So far she likes Sondayo; if the world's made up of people like him, then she's more than happy to negotiate with them. But she's a Sith Lord, and so she has long since lost the idealism that would stop her from asking TN to please remove and hide anything they can't easily replace from the hyperdrive, navicomputer, and databanks, and then rig what's left to explode on her command. So she does that. All of them will absolutely be destroyed very thoroughly if she deems it necessary. For good measure, she backs up blueprints of everything she'd need to claw her way back to Imperial space onto datasticks. It's best to be prepared in case someone has the bright idea of trying to use force.

Not that she's going to open with that kind of hostile negotiation tactic, of course. She absolutely does not want to blow up her things, nor does she want to use the threat of its destruction as anything more than a last resort. But she will if she has to, and so she's prepared.

All of her ship's sensors have been ground into dust by re-entry, but she can watch for anyone investigating her very dramatic entrance with the Force.

There are some people! Two different sets from two different directions. No, three.

That makes her suspicious. Three separate groups? That could get very untenable very quickly. Maybe there's a reasonable explanation, maybe one's emergency services and another's a group of expert translators and another is a defense force, all coordinated by the same entity, but... She's a Sith Lord. Paranoid and prepared for anything kind of comes with the territory.

"Heads up, there are people incoming. Three different directions. Would Sondayo like to harbor all of you while I have a chat with them?"

Envee asks!