Bec Lawise

Bec Lawise was a male Siniteen politician who served as Separatist Congress Leader in the Confederacy of Independent Systems. In this position, he acted as the speaker of the senate on the capital world of Raxus.

Sometime around 21 BBY, Lawise was present when Senator Mina Bonteri pushed for extending a peace offer towards Chancellor Palpatine of the Galactic Republic. Despite this, the negotiations between the two factions were cut short following the bombing of Coruscant's power generator, orchestrated by Count Dooku and his agents in the Galactic Senate, causing the Clone Wars to continue. As "Speaker", Lawise also attended a peace conference on the neutral system of Mandalore, during which he had security droids arrest Lux Bonteri, after the latter accused Dooku of his mother, Mina's murder.

In 19 BBY, Lawise travelled to Scipio, as representative of the Separatist Senate, alongside Senator Padmé Amidala, representative of the Galactic Senate, in order to oversee the initiation of Rush Clovis as the leader of the InterGalactic Banking Clan. It was later discovered that Clovis had been coerced by Dooku to end Separatist debt in the Banking Clan, and the Count arrested Senator Amidala. When Lawise objected, Dooku disposed of him by using the Force to make Amidala shoot Lawise against her will.

Steps towards achieving peace
The Siniteen 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. 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, though the two would often disagree with each other. In 22 BBY, the Confederacy initiated full-scale conflict with the Republic in what became known as the Clone Wars. While the Separatist Droid Army 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.

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 the vote  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 motion 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 Darth Sidious's Sith apprentice and sought to continue the war to further the his Master's agenda. To that end, Dooku and senators Nix Card, Gume Saam and Lott Dod orchestrated a terrorist attack on the Republic capital of Coruscant without Senate approval, leading the Republic Congress to reject the offer of peace. Sith Lord Darth Sidious had Bonteri murdered, with Dooku attributing 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 Separatist Senate 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 Gossam 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 commando diplomats as security droids, while Senate Guards served as bodyguards for the Republic deputation, consisting of Senators Mon Mothma of Chandrilla and Bail Prestor Organa of Alderaan and led by Padmé Amidala of Naboo. 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 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 his 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 by Darth Sidious 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 Master's 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 lef the room shortly after and contacted Darth Sidious to inform him of his success. He thereafter withdrew his naval forces from Scipio just as a Republic fleet arrived to mount a planetary invasion.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "Heroes on Both Sides"  (First appearance)
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "A Friend in Need"
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "Crisis at the Heart"