Bec Lawise/Legends

Senator Bec Lawise was a Siniteen male who served as the Separatist Congress Leader of the Separatist Parliament during the Clone Wars. A vocal supporter of Count Dooku and the Confederacy of Independent Systems, Lawise acted as the speaker of the Parliament, presiding over congress sessions on Raxus Secundus alongside Dooku, the Head of State. Lawise was present when Senator Mina Bonteri secured the passage of a bill to open peace negotiations with the Galactic Republic, a move that ultimately resulted in the derailment of the proposal and her murder, both due to Dooku's machinations. Lawise later served on a three-member Parliament delegation at a peace conference on Mandalore, where they met with Republic representatives to pursue a diplomatic end to the war. The deliberations were interrupted by Mina Bonteri's son, Lux, who publicly accused Dooku of assassinating his mother and led Lawise to have the delegation's security droids arrest the young man.
Alongside Republic Senator Padmé Amidala, Lawise traveled to Scipio on behalf of the Confederacy to recognize the inauguration of Rush Clovis as the head of the InterGalactic Banking Clan. Dooku soon became involved in the proceedings, manipulating Clovis into absolving the Confederacy's financial debts and then overseeing a Separatist invasion of Scipio. When Lawise objected to Dooku's course of action, particularly to the Head of State's direct arrest of Amidala, Dooku engineered Lawise's death, using the Force to maneuver Amidala into gunning him down.
==Biography==
===Steps toward peace===
The Siniteen male Bec Lawise lived during the final decades of the Galactic Republic. Entering the realm of politics, Lawise disputed the Republic's rule over the galaxy and joined the Confederacy of Independent Systems, a separatist government formed by the former Jedi Master Count Dooku in the year 24 BBY.The New Essential Chronology Lawise became a delegate of the Separatist Parliament, eventually being made Separatist Congress Leader and, hence, the speaker of the Parliament. He thus filled a leadership position in the legislative body alongside Dooku, who served as Confederate Head of State. In 22 BBY, the Confederacy initiated full-scale conflict with the Republic in what became known as the Clone Wars. While the Confederacy military fought with the Grand Army of the Republic for supremacy in the galactic theater of war, Lawise presided over congress sessions at the Separatist Senate Building, which was located in a large city on the Confederate capital world of Raxus Secundus.Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Episode Guide
In 21 BBY, the war's second year, Senator Mina Bonteri of Onderon, working with Republic Senator Padmé Amidala toward an end to the fighting, introduced a bill to open peace negotiations with the Republic Senate. With Lawise overseeing the debate of the bill alongside Dooku, who was present via hologram, several senators spoke in support of and opposition to Bonteri's proposal, including Kerch Kushi and Voe Atell, respectively. When Dooku called for a voice vote as per the Bylaws of Independent Systems, the bill passed by a majority, and the Parliament's offer for peace was extended to the Republic. Yet it ultimately failed due to the machinations of Dooku, who was secretly a member of the Order of the Sith Lords and sought to continue the war to further the Sith's agenda. To that end, Dooku sanctioned a terrorist attack on the Republic capital of Coruscant without Parliament approval, leading the Republic Senate to reject the offer of peace. Dooku also had Bonteri murdered and attributed her death to a Republic attack, using it as a reason to withdraw the Confederacy's overture for negotiations.
Even without Bonteri, the diplomatic process continued. The Parliament agreed to send a delegation to a peace conference with Republic officials on the neutral world of Mandalore. Lawise consented to serve on the delegation with Voe Atell and Senator Amita Fonti, and they proceeded to Mandalore's capital city, Sundari, aboard a C-9979 landing craft. Duchess Satine Kryze of the New Mandalorians hosted the Separatist and Republic delegations at Sundari's royal palace. Though required to be unarmed per Mandalorian law, Lawise and his colleagues brought BX-series droid commandos as security droids, while Senate Guards served as bodyguards for the Republic deputation, consisting of Senators Mon Mothma and Bail Prestor Organa and led by Padmé Amidala. After Amidala opened the deliberations, Atell, speaking for the others, pushed for the Republic to confer political legitimacy on the Confederacy, a recurring issue since the latter's birth as a separate state. Though Amidala and her party hesitated to meet Atell's demand, the talks were then interrupted by the uninvited arrival of Lux Bonteri, who had succeeded his mother, Mina, as the senator of Onderon before recently resigning his Parliament seat. Kryze granted the young Bonteri permission to speak, much to Lawise and Atell's chagrin.
Taking to the podium, Bonteri accused Dooku of having his mother murdered, a claim that Lawise immediately met with opposition. The Separatist Congress Leader denounced Bonteri's remarks as lies and had the security droids arrest the young man. Once Bonteri had been removed from the room, Lawise apologized on the Separatists' behalf for the interruption and reopened the floor to discussion. However, the negotiations broke down shortly thereafter on account of shadowy interests on both sides. In addition, Bonteri escaped from custody with the assistance of Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano.
===Financial talks on Scipio===
In 20 BBY, the final year of the war, the Confederate government voted to recognize a new leader of the InterGalactic Banking Clan: Rush Clovis, who had ousted the previous leadership, the corrupt Core Five, with the secret aid of Count Dooku. Separatist and Republic delegations proceeded to the Banking Clan's headquarters on the planet Scipio to bear witness to the internal transfer of power. Lawise and a squad of BX-series droid commandos arrived at Scipio's Main Vault fortress ahead of Clovis, who was returning from Coruscant with Padmé Amidala after receiving the formal approval of the Republic Senate. Once Clovis and Amidala had disembarked from their Consular-class cruiser, Lawise and a Muun security agent greeted Clovis, who explained that only one delegate from both the Republic and the Separatists—Amidala and Lawise, respectively—would be allowed inside the Main Vault's neutral zone to monitor the exchange proceedings. Lawise complied and ordered his squad of droid commandos to remain outside, while Amidala did the same for her garrison of Coruscant Guard clone shock troopers. Lawise and Amidala arrived at the Main Vault with Clovis just as a Muun judge was completing his sentencing of the Core Five, whom Clovis had found to be complicit in an embezzlement scam that had depleted the banks. After the Core Five was taken into custody, the Muun government transferred control of the Banking Clan to Clovis, and Lawise and Amidala applauded from the sidelines.
Dooku took a proactive role in the ensuing proceedings, as part of a plot to seize control of the banks and absolve the Separatists' debts to the Banking Clan. He outright refused on the Separatists' behalf to pay the interest on their loans, forcing Clovis to instead raise interest rates on the Republic to avoid total collapse. At the next meeting in the main rotunda, Lawise and Amidala witnessed Clovis's announcement that—under the guise of stabilization—the Banking Clan would be implementing an interest rate height for the Republic. Amidala was shocked that Clovis was reneging on his promise of neutrality; Lawise stood by without saying a word as Amidala's objections fell on deaf ears.
Dooku executed the next stage in his plan: arriving at Scipio with a full armada from the Confederate Navy, he had his forces obliterate the Republic's clone trooper garrison outside the Main Vault, thus publicly implicating Clovis in an alliance with the Confederacy. Following Dooku's invasion of Scipio, Lawise and Dooku met with Clovis in the latter's office atop the Main Vault fortress, where they were soon joined by a pair of battle droids who brought along Amidala as a prisoner. Dooku ordered Amidala arrested, but Lawise protested, citing that the Separatist Parliament would never approve so brash a move. When Amidala stole an E-5 blaster rifle from one of the droids and pointed it at Dooku, the Sith Lord called upon the Force, using it to telekinetically aim Amidala's blaster at Lawise. The Separatist Congress Leader could only utter a few words of shock before Dooku forced Amidala to pull the trigger, killing Lawise. The Head of State thereafter withdrew his naval forces from Scipio just as a Republic fleet arrived to mount a planetary invasion.
==Personality and traits==
A wide-bodied Siniteen male, Bec Lawise had yellow eyes and pink skin. Being a member of the Separatist Parliament, he wore a set of long formal robes to congressional events, along with an accompanying headpiece. As a politician, Lawise opposed the Republic and became a leading senator in the Parliament, serving in a leadership capacity as Separatist Congress Leader. Like many of his colleagues, Lawise campaigned for Republic recognition of the Confederacy's legitimacy, agreeing with Voe Atell's demand for such acknowledgment during the conference on Mandalore. Lawise displayed a measure of support for Count Dooku and took offense to Lux Bonteri's remarks against the Head of State, shouting down Bonteri's portrayal of Dooku as a murderer without a second thought. He did not hesitate to meet Bonteri's words with force, having the young man arrested and removed from the room despite the evident possibility of Dooku having him executed for his defiant rhetoric.
During the proceedings on Scipio, Lawise did not display outright hostility toward Padmé Amidala despite the fact that they were on opposing sides. He respected her favorable opinion of Rush Clovis and personally told Clovis that the Confederacy had high hopes for him. Lawise also placed his faith in the democratic process, valuing the Parliament's approval of certain matters over Dooku's schemes for power. He voiced opposition to Dooku's machinations to seize control of the banks, and his objection to Dooku's arrest of Amidala ultimately cost Lawise his life, with Dooku manipulating Amidala into shooting him.
==Behind the scenes==
The character of Bec Lawise was created for the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series, first appearing in the third season episode "Heroes on Both Sides" on November 19, 2010. He was one of the first Separatist senators to be introduced into Star Wars canon, being distinguishable in his position as Separatist Congress Leader. The accompanying episode guide on StarWars.com first identified the character by name. He received a speaking role in the episode "A Friend in Need," which aired with the series' fourth season on January 13, 2012. He was portrayed by voice actor Corey Burton, who also voiced Count Dooku in the series. Burton reprised the role when Lawise appeared in the episode "Crisis at the Heart," which was released in March 2014 as part of the series' sixth season.
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==Notes and references==
Category:Confederacy of Independent Systems senators
Category:Males
Category:Siniteen