Lannik–Red Iaro peace negotiations

For many years leading up to 32 BBY, the planet of Lannik was gripped by a costly internal conflict. This war pitted the established government against the Red Iaro terrorist faction, marked by events such as a suicide attack on Lannik's High Court. During this attack, Even Piell, a Lannik Jedi, intervened to rescue the lives of both Lannik's prince and a delegation of Corellian emissaries. The Red Iaro, supported by the priests of the Order of the Ffib, the Gran Protectorate of Malastare, a planet in the Mid Rim, and elements within the guard of the current Lannik prince, R'cardo Sooflie IX, hatched a scheme. Their aim was to gain control of their homeworld by orchestrating the assassination of Jedi negotiators. These Jedi would be lured to Malastare under the guise of brokering a peace agreement between the warring Lannik factions, and the prince would be framed for the act. The conspirators strategically scheduled these negotiations to coincide with the popular Vinta Harvest Classic Podrace. This served a dual purpose: initially diverting attention from their plot and subsequently providing extensive media coverage to amplify their deception.

Following the invasion of Naboo by the Trade Federation of Planets by several months, Palpatine, the Supreme Chancellor, and the Judicial Department of the Galactic Republic, in coordination with the Gran Protectorate, formally requested that six members of the Jedi Council journey from Coruscant, the Republic's capital, to Malastare. Their mission was to serve as arbiters in the peace negotiations. Piell, now a respected Jedi Master within the Council, accepted the assignment to leverage his deep understanding of Lannik customs. He was accompanied by fellow council members Mace Windu, Adi Gallia, Yaddle, Plo Koon, and Ki-Adi-Mundi, along with Mundi's Padawan apprentice, A'Sharad Hett. Gallia was motivated to continue the work of her parents, the Corellian emissaries previously rescued by Piell, and she took on the role of chief negotiator for the peace treaty. Windu, as a senior member of the Council, assumed the position of acting director for the mission.

The Jedi delegation traveled to Malastare aboard a Consular-class cruiser and were greeted by Gran senators Baskol Yeesrim and Ainlee Teem and their identured Dug servants, who escorted them to their designated quarters. As they moved through the spaceport, they were followed by a Ffib inquisitor and a Red Iaro terrorist, both dispatched by Senator Aks Moe of the Protectorate. These individuals brandished blasters and opened fire when confronted by Piell and Gallia, but they fled upon the arrival of Mundi and Hett. The Gran guards claimed to be unaware of the attackers' presence, and the discovery that they possessed weapons within the restricted spaceport area led the Jedi to suspect a deeper conspiracy surrounding the peace conference. Meanwhile, the failed assailants returned to Moe and a Ffib associate to report their detection. The senator then instructed a pair of Gamorrean guards to eliminate the subordinates, assuring the priest that their plan would proceed without hindrance and promising that the Jedi would be dead by the end of the following day.

The negotiators gathered within the palace of Gujdim Wiphshun, the Gran governor, located in the city of Pixelito. While awaiting entry to the governor's chambers, Hett was deliberately bumped by a Gamorrean guard in an attempt to provoke a conflict. Master Yaddle diffused the situation by employing a mindtrick on the instigator.

Inside the negotiation room, the Jedi formally introduced themselves to Sooflie and Hutar Zash, his Military Advisor, with whom Piell had previously served in the Lannik Palace guard. Upon learning that the Lannik Jedi had rescued the former prince, Sooflie's father, Sooflie commented that he would have become prince much sooner were it not for the Jedi Master's actions. The Red Iaro delegation arrived last, headed by Myk'chur Finux Zug, one of the terrorists Piell had fought in the past. The Jedi Master openly accused Zug of cowardice and expressed skepticism regarding the Red Iaro's genuine desire for peace. Following a conciliatory remark from Windu, Moe initiated the peace talks, although the Jedi emissaries sensed a looming threat through the Force and their ability to feel it. Zug agreed to relinquish control of the captured Palesia territory in exchange for concessions from the Lannik government. However, the prince objected to the terrorist's use of crown lands as a bargaining chip and denounced the peace process as a mistake, prompting Windu to call for a recess for the day.

Hutar Zash, secretly working for the Red Iaro, invited the Jedi to board his personal airspeeders. While ostensibly offering transportation back to their quarters, his true intention was to detonate thermite bombs concealed on himself and his staff. This would kill the Jedi and his own men, all within view of the cam droids filming the podrace overhead. As the airspeeders and podracers converged, Zash revealed his treachery, explaining to Piell that he had been driven to the terrorists by the new prince's leadership. As Zash and his staff prepared to detonate the explosives, Piell used his lightsaber to bisect one airspeeder, allowing himself, Windu, and Gallia to escape the impending explosion. The Jedi aboard the other speeder then threw their distracted captors overboard, causing their explosives to detonate harmlessly in midair.

The three falling Jedi managed to grab onto the connective cables of a passing podracer. Windu, reluctant to reveal their location by using levitation to descend, asked Sebulba, the Dug pilot, to reduce speed so they could jump onto a nearby rooftop. Sebulba refused to slow down during the race and instead struck at the Jedi's hand with a wrench in an attempt to dislodge them. Although Windu severed the tool with his lightsaber, he was struck by the broken pieces and lost his grip. Gallia then fired a cable from her grappling spike launcher into the pod's fuselage. Simultaneously, Aldar Beedo, an assassin hired by fellow racer Wan Sandage to eliminate Sebulba, approached and aimed at his target. As Sebulba drew a blaster to shoot down the Jedi, Beedo fired his own weapon, severing Gallia's cable and causing the Jedi to fall into the other airspeeder, which was being piloted by Yaddle and Hett and waiting below.

Once reunited, the Jedi pieced together the deception. Piell speculated that the conspirators were motivated by a desire to exploit Lannik's natural resources, while Windu concluded that, having failed in their initial plan, they would now target the prince. Despite their personal reservations, the Jedi resolved to protect Sooflie. Red Iaro forces, led by Zug and the Ffib priest, breached Sooflie's chambers, killing the prince's guards despite their secret allegiance to the terrorist organization. They then prepared to feed the prince to a pair of akk dogs, creatures native to Haruun Kal, Mace Windu's homeworld. This would both eliminate Sooflie and destroy any evidence of their crime. However, the Jedi intervened, crashing their airspeeder through a window and engaging the intruders. While Mundi and his Padawan battled the Lannik terrorists, the Jedi Masters dealt with the akk dogs. One fell to Yaddle's lightsaber, while the other was calmed by the bond its kind shared with Windu's people. With their plot exposed, the conspirators attempted to escape. The priest was restrained by Plo Koon's Force grip, while Zug shed his jacket to reveal a jetpack and fled through the broken window, flying directly into the engine turbine of Sebulba's oncoming podracer.

Senator Moe entered the chambers and took the priest into custody before his involvement in the conspiracy could be revealed, promising to investigate the circumstances surrounding the presence of the beasts in the governor's palace. With the peace talks abandoned, Prince Sooflie departed, and the Jedi Councilors returned to Coruscant. However, Windu, disturbed by the use of akk dogs as weapons and having learned that they had been acquired from smugglers on Nar Shaddaa, a moon, embarked on a mission to investigate the illicit trade there.