Chapter Text
There was no trial.
There was no need for one, really. Clone designation U-1, nicknamed “Boba”, pled guilty for the attempted assassination of Jedi Council member Master Mace Windu - among other grievances such as extortion, the taking of hostages, sabotage, and the destruction of government property.
Boba was placed in a holding cell within several hours of capture.
The real trouble started when it came time for the Republic to decide what exactly they were going to do with him. Their initial plan was to send him to Kamino for decommissioning - as was standard procedure for all rogue or defective clones.
This process was stalled and ultimately abandoned when Kaminoan Senator Halle Burtoni distributed a report on the behalf of her government - a collection of documents including the clone's date of manufacture and an official certificate of ownership to Jango Fett. In a statement to the senate, Burtoni concluded, “Boba was created with no modifications as a direct replica of Jango Fett. Therefore, he can not be considered defective for acting within his own interests - as was the nature of his template. Furthermore, the Kaminoan government relinquished ownership of Boba to the bounty hunter. Simply put, we are not responsible for his actions or the consequences thereof.”
With a thirty-page document and a five-minute speech, Kamino effectively declared that Boba was not their problem and the Republic was back at square one.
At that point, no one should’ve been surprised when Boba decided to make things even more difficult.
“He was not my owner,” Boba insisted in a statement about his relationship to Jango Fett. “He was my father.”
“Biologically, he was your donor,” the Senator calmly explained. “We have no records of adoption, only ownership. Despite your perceived relation to the man, he was legally your owner, nothing more or less.”
At that, the child squared his shoulders and lifted up his chin - staring down the Kaminoan with an intensity that would’ve been eerily familiar to those that ever knew Jango. “He declared me as his son. By Mandalorian custom, he was my father - certificate or no certificate.”
And the Senate had no idea how to proceed with that new information.
It took several days for a representative from Mandalore to arrive on Coruscant.
“Mandalore does have a strong oral tradition,” the representative conceded. “For millennia a Mandalorian’s word was as good as a signed contract. It wasn’t until fairly recently that we switched over to written documents and I doubt that the Mandalorians living off-world ever bothered to follow.”
“How can we be sure the boy is not lying?”
“In the old ways,” the representative explained, sounding more than a little weary. “To break your word was one of the highest dishonors. For a people who held their honor to the highest esteem, you can be sure that no one would want to put it in doubt. We have no reason to believe that the boy is lying - especially if he was raised in the old Mandalorian ways, as he seems to be.”
“Are you implying that there are still Mandalorians roaming around that aren’t loyal to the Duchess Satine’s pacifist government?”
“People who are Mandalorian by creed are spread across the known galaxy, but they are generally isolationist and none are official citizens of Mandalore. We offer them a home in the event they rescind their ways and join us in creating a peaceful future, but until that happens they are only Mandalorian in name and not by law. They are under the jurisdiction of the systems they live in, not Mandalore. Our government does not acknowledge them.”
“If your government does not acknowledge Jango Fett or Boba as Mandalorian, then we have no reason to take the boy’s statement as fact, yes?”
“That’s a complicated issue. Jango Fett and Boba seem to have been Mandalorian by creed and, if that was the case, we cannot ignore that Jango was officially Boba’s father - if he said the words. The Mandalorian government does not acknowledge them as citizens of Mandalore, but we cannot disregard their connection to its culture - even if it is one that’s antiquated.” The representative turned to Boba, who stood there absorbing the information with a scowl on his face. “What were the words Jango Fett said when he declared you as his son?”
Boba glared at the representative and answered, “Ni kar’tayl gai sa’ad,” with the ease of someone who was told to practice the words over and over.
The Mandalorian representative nodded. “So it is, then. Jango Fett was officially the father of Boba Fett and should be referred to as such,” they glanced at the child. “This was an odd point to argue, however, as this information does not do anything to improve your situation.”
All Boba said in reply was, “I just wanted to let them know.”
After the representative gave a token offer of taking Boba Fett back to Mandalore - under the condition that he swear loyalty to the New Mandalorian government - and the boy vehemently refused, there was nothing left keeping them on Coruscant. Once again, the Republic was back to square one.
The logical conclusion, after the rejection from both Mandalore and Kamino, was that Boba was now a ward of the state and, thus, the responsibility fell directly to the Republic.
It was Palpatine that ultimately decided that Boba would be imprisoned.
“He has committed great crimes against the Republic,” said the Chancellor. “It is too risky to allow him anything less than full security.”
There was opposition, of course, when his age was put into account.
Said opposition quickly died when it was brought up that if Boba were to be tried as a minor, that had the possibility of drawing attention to the fact that the other clones were, technically speaking, also minors. Few Senators wanted to tackle that moral issue, with the notable exceptions of Senators Organa and Amidala.
“We have more important things to focus on than the fate of a single person,” the Chancellor concluded. “It is an unfortunate outcome, but one that would be within the Republic’s best interests overall.”
In the end, democracy won with a 95% vote to try Boba as an adult and imprison him on Coruscant.
That is until the Jedi Council got involved.
More specifically, it was a single member of the Council who decided to insert himself in the affairs of the Senate.
Master Obi-Wan Kenobi made his appeal the day before Boba was to be transported.
“I feel it is my responsibility that these events have occurred,” Kenobi stated, detailing his role in tracking down Jango Fett and causing him and his son to flee to Geonosis in the first place. “I humbly plead for the Senate to allow me to fix the wrongs I inadvertently committed.”
The Jedi then gave a very detailed proposal for how Boba was to be handled in his care, including procedures for who would be watching him and how he would be kept from environments that would allow him the chance to escape - including active war zones.
“With us, he will be given the space to grow and, hopefully, become an asset to the Republic rather than just another criminal. If the boy squanders this opportunity, I will allow the initial judgment to pass with no argument.”
No one could argue and, truly, no one wanted to. The situation had gotten past the point of exhaustion and, really, the Senate was ready to move on to something less morally taxing and uncomfortable. With great reluctance and the pressure of the majority of the Senate, Chancellor Palpatine agreed to Master Kenobi’s proposal and granted him temporary custody of Boba Fett.
Master Kenobi, in a conversation with Senator Organa after the measure was passed, was reported to shake his head and mutter, “I hate politics.”