A Rebel would not have been so careless as to not mask their secret escape ship. No living Rebel. Such mistakes had been trained out of them by the Empire.
Branson was not a Rebel. As Imperial Governor he had been safe behind an entire Fleet at the heart of the Sector on the Emperor's homeworld. Heavily defended and secure it was unsurprising that precautions against the unthinkable were let slip.
So when the unthinkable occurred, the Emperor dead, the Empire collapsing and with entire fleets surrendering under offers of amnesty, Governer Branson found himself fleeing through a not entirely secret passage to a hanger, the location of which was known already.
The blast caught him in the stomach after the door opened. He collapsed from the shock, the case falling out of his hand.
"Where to Governor?" said Jarsea as she walked towards him. He was scrabbling for a blaster. She shot him in the leg. He forgot the weapon and screamed.
"It hurts, doesn't it?" she said. "Was it worth it, Governer? All the disappearances? All the tortures? The massacres?" she punctuated her questions with a blaster shot.
Branson managed to look up at his murderer. "Why?" he croaked.
Jarsea smiled and switched the blaster to full repeat. She then discharged the entire power cell into her victim leaving only a bubbling mass on the floor. She then picked up the case and walked back to the floater.
Jarsea walked up the Palace steps, nodded to the Justices and greeted her fellow Guardian.
"We welcome the day Ivaniku." she said.
"And we welcome the light Jarsea." Ivaniku returned. "May you swim in warm shallows." Ivaniku was a Gungan, a tall lanky amphibian.
"May you swim in warm shallows." Jarsea replied.
Jarsea felt the overly formal greeting warranted by the coming events. Today the Alliance would be negotiating with the Republic, not as friends, but as rivals. While the confrontation had been inevitable it would still need to be handled with care.
"Who do we have today?" she said as they walked the corridors.
"The Queen, Prime Minister, Cabinet, Planetary Representatives, Boss Kulga.." Ivaniku ran through the usual circus.
"Wait, who is Ambassador Gorsha?" she interrupted.
Ivaniku paused and crouched slightly. Jarsea recognised the Gungan response to imminent danger. Be calm. She told herself. How bad could it be?
"Ambassador Gorsha is the senior representative from the Hutt Free..."
"There is a Hutt here? In Theed?" she exploded. "How did this happen? When?"
"They arrived a few hours ago." said Ivaniku.
"And who let it slither upon our soul?" she asked furiously.
Ivaniku backed away from the irate human.
"Yousa dids." Ivaniku clapped his hands over his mouth, his eyestalks retracting.
Jarsea paused as Ivaniku tried to compose himself. For a star-faring, civilised galactic Gungan to revert to the oldster's patois was embarrassing in the extreme.
"I did?" she said.
"Yes. The. Articles. All sophonts." said Ivaniku slowly, pronouncing each word carefully.
'All sophonts who think and dream and believe shall be counted as equal under our suns.'
Yes, okay she had written that. It was great, noble, everything a new society wanting to make a clean break from The Empire needed in a foundational document. She now wished she had added' except the damned Hutts'.
Yes, the Hutts were large invertebrates with a foul odour. Yes, their philosophies and mores were offensive and repulsive . Yes, their society was grotesque and horrific. They were vile, the scum of the universe. They were all that, but there was also something, unholy about them. As if they had been spawned by the Dark Side.
Jarsea had counted herself a rational, educated Galactic. Gods, demons, creatures of the Force? Metaphors, allegories, ways of telling people how to behave in story form.
Except to hear Biggs speak of his experiences with Luke and Leia it was all real.
So her words, however well intentioned had let this, unholy thing onto her world. The Hutts were infamous for never, ever leaving.
But you couldn't have something like 'except the damned Hutts'. Because the next one did not have to have the same objections, or the ones after that.
"Okay. Yes we have to accommodate it." she ground out. "We will deal with it and then it will leave. So, anyone else I should be aware of?"
"Just Mr Calrissian of the Union of Free Habitats." said Ivaniku.
"Well let's get him sorted out before we deal with the bigger problems."
Jarsea smiled as Mr Calrissian, head spokesman for the Union of Free Habitats swept into the room. He made an extravagant bow.
"Hello Guardian Jarsea. How may I be of service." he said.
"Hello Spokesman. Please sit and we can talk of closer relations between our nations." she said.
"Well, I'm all for closer relations." he said leaning forward as he sat down. "However I do have a question."
"Why are you speaking to me, a civil servant with a odd sounding title instead?"
"I'm not complaining mind. But it did cross my mind."
"Just another check on rampant populism and an advisor on who we, The Alliance are. Guardian also sounds much better than 'Don't be so bloody stupid'." said Jarsea. "So I keep watch, advise and tell the people navigating the course of The Alliance..."
"To not be so bloody stupid?" completed Mr Calrissian.
"Which brings me to you. Who is Lando Calrissian? The man?"
"What would you like to know?" said Lando. He leaned back.
"Is it true that you seduced the Oracle of Coralie Four?"
"Oh, that. I visited the Oracle for a, little business advice. I paid my fee and entered the chamber." Land paused.
"Go on." said Jarsea.
"I know a prison cell when I see one. So, I changed my question. I asked her how I could break her out of there. She told me and we did it. Breaking out a cooperative precog is easy." said Lando.
"Why?"
Lando leaned back. "You know. To this day I don't know. Was I manipulated by someone capable of twisting space and time about her finger? Was it just a whim? Did I just not want to be party to a young woman being chained up like an animal? Was it because she was hot?"
"Hot?"
"Her captors may not of dressed her well but recognising what someone can be like after a few fashion tips is one of my many talents. And yeah, she was hot."
Jarsea paused. "Did you love her?"
Lando looked away and shifted in his chair. "What sort of question is that?"
"One you have successfully avoided answering, till now." said Jarsea. "Your fortunes took a stellar turn just after. So, did you love her?"
Lando coughed and looked down. After a few seconds he looked back up.
"Not nearly well enough." he said at last. His hand clenched. "Idiot. I should of seen it coming. I should of saved her." he said to himself.
Do I have to know this? Does the Alliance? There were a lot of things she needed to know on behalf of the Alliance but she suspected this was not one of them.
"I am sorry Mr Calrissian. I can ask you something else." she said.
"Uhh, yes."
"The Union supported the Rebellion for years. First covertly, providing safe havens and such, then later on with support, then some troops and light ships. Why?"
"Well, we're not a big polity. What help we could provide was always minor." said Lando.
"I know that. But why get involved at all? You could of stayed neutral like the Mining Guild."
"The holo. Of Her." he replied.
Jarsea did not need to ask which holo. 'The holo' always referred to the silent, almost 2D image of Leia, all in white, her hands behind her neck, staring at the viewer. They had sometimes touched it up with a slogan or the Phoenix but by and large it had been unnecessary. Leia's silent request had moved the galaxy.
Jarsea remembered it had been taken at the end of a holo shoot. There had been action stills, speeches and a few fun shots just to keep everyone going. Leia was tired and Jarsea had taken the shot on what she thought was impulse at the time. Now she knew better.
"She was trying to massage some life back into her neck as I recall." Jarsea said.
"All I know is that it was aid the Rebellion or face riots." said Lando. "You took it?"
"Rebel propaganda was me, Trish and Peter back then. And they mostly carried the stuff." Jarsea said nodding.
"I, like a lot of beings fell in love with her. Did you know I proposed to her? Later, when she was Queen."
"You did?"
"Well, not seriously. She had these other suitors at the time. She looked so tired and pinched listening to King Rhovan. I was on New Alderaan so I approached her and made my pitch."
"And?" she was leaning forwards and had to steady herself.
"Well, she did not find my proposal the equivalent of torture. She did smile when she said she would consider it."
"I don't doubt it. Well, rest assured Mr Calrissian, the Alliance will be happy to forge closer relations. So long as you refrain from seducing our heads of state that is."
"I'll keep that in mind." said Lando.
Leia made her way through the small crowd gathering in the viewers galley for the Green Chamber at the Residency in Theed. Naboo had a tradition of most government proceedings being open to the public. Since most citizens were not interested in the day to day governance of their nation she made her way mainly through reporters, civil servants, academics and visiting dignitaries from across the Galaxy.
"Excuse me." she said to a tall human with his back to her blocking access to the front of the viewing platform.
The man turned and smiled. "Of course, anything to accommodate a beautiful, why hello Leia. Fancy meeting you here." he said shifting slightly to accommodate her.
Leia stopped. It was Lando Calrissian, Leader of the Union of Free Habitats and famous womaniser.
"I never did receive a reply, even unofficially." said Lando quickly.
Reply to what? Oh yes. That.
"I am no longer a Queen, you know." she said.
Lando smiled and took her hand. Raising it he bent to kiss the hand. "That title was never a concern to me. I remember asking a bored and annoyed woman in the hopes of brightening her day."
Leia smiled at the memory. After King Rhovan, the impromptu proposal from this man had been a very welcome relief. Had he been serious though?
"Your wondering if I meant what I said." Lando grinned.
"Well, I have it on good advice that you are not the commitment type." she replied smiling.
Lando let go of her hand and clasped his hands to his chest. "Oh Leia, you wound me. You wound me deeply." his grin indicating otherwise.
"What would you of done if you had received a reply?" she asked.
"How about I tell you over dinner tonight? There is this little place I know here." Lando said.
"I'm sorry but..." Leia paused, she couldn't go to an intimate dinner with, no, yes she could. "I would love to." she said.
"I'll make the arrangements. Say, you don't qualify as a Head of State here, do you?" he said.
What an odd question. "No. Why?" said Leia.
"Oh nothing. Hey look, they're starting."
Along with the rest of the gallery Leia looked down into the Green Chamber. It was a large gathering. Leia noticed that many of the Alliance's planetary representatives were present. This was no 'minor matter'.
A fanfare started up. It was the Anthem of The Republic. Prior to this day the music had always filled her with hope. It had spoken to her of unity, freedom and democracy. But today it sounded off, as if the musicians were conveying a sense of malaise and corruption in the background.
It soon became apparent why. Among the Republican party entering was a Hutt. All eyes were fixed on the monster.
"What's a Hutt doing there?" said Lando beside her and echoing the murmers of many.
I did this, thought Leia. It was me. While the treaty between the Alliance to Restore the Republic and Hutt Free Economic Zone had been the decision of Command as a whole it was her signature on the documents. It was her breath that had made the promises binding. She had let the monsters in.
"The Republic demands the repatriation of its citizens and that the pirates be remanded into our custody." said the Republic Ambassador sternly jolting Leia back to the moment. She recognised him, formerly General Llwyngwril, the Liberator of the Spinward Marches and hero of the Rebellion. Llwyngwril was solid, dedicated to the Rebellion and the image of Republic patriot.
"The Alliance would like to know which Republic citizens the Ambassador is referring to and which pirates." replied Queen Seraphine. Leia knew of her, but little else. Title notwithstanding, Seraphine was popularly elected and the acknowledged voice of the Spindrift Alliance.
"The crew and passengers of the Talapher are the citizens we refer to. As for the pirates, I believe it is the crew of the Vigilant." said Llwyngwril.
"Really? My navy reports that the SAV Vigilant determined the Talapher to be a slaver. The passengers you refer to were slaves. They, of course have been freed. They are free to return to the Republic if they so choose. The surviving crew are awaiting trial."
"Surviving crew? The Republic takes a poor view of piracy." said Llwyngwril.
"And the Alliance equally abhors slavery." retorted Seraphine.
There was a rumbling from the Hutt and gasps as it was translated.
"Hereditary Service is now recognised in the Republic?" said Seraphine.
Everyone held their breath as the Ambassador struggled to evolve a suitable reply.
"Your majesty. We request a recess, I must confer with Corruscant."
Seraphine nodded and the Republic party withdrew.
"I legalised Slavery." said Leia.
It was sometime later. Leia had found Jarsea conferring with Seraphine. Jarsea had quickly organised them into a small room away from everyone else. They had sat down and Leia had started.
"It's not your fault." said Jarsea.
"Whose fault is it then? My signature, my deal, my breath is why this is happening." said Leia.
"The recognition of the Hutt and legislation allowing Hereditary Service was not done by you." said Seraphine. "I have seen the relevant treaties."
"And the one that let's all the others exist?" asked Leia.
Seraphine looked down.
"Those are mine and mine alone." said Leia. "Without them, the rest would not exist. I legalised Slavery."
Jarsea opened her mouth but Leia interupted. "I know what you are going to say. That we were desperate, that it saved the Rebellion, there was no choice. So what? I. Legalised. Slavery. I should of listened to Biggs, damn it."
"Now is not the time to place blame. We need to determine what to do now. I'm just surprised it took so long for something like this to happen." said Seraphine.
"Yes, it is strange." said Jarsea. Both women turned to look at Leia.
"What?" said Leia.
"Just a hunch dear. You arrive and this happens instead of anytime previously? That's a rather big coincidence." said Jarsea.
"And there's no such thing as coincidences?"
"I am afraid not dear."
"So what do I do now? Any ideas?"
"The Hutts have always been an unknown. They are certainly powerful enough that both The Republic and Empire dealt cautiously with them." said Seraphine.
The systems controlled by the various Hutt gangs, cartels and other organisations were collectively known as the 'Hutt Free Economic Zone'. Despite giving the appearance of being a loose affiliation of criminals, the Hutts were unified by various agreements strongly enough to be considered a unified polity. Hutt culture acted as a safe haven and breeding ground for pirates, outlaws, mercenaries and other dangerous well armed undesirables. A patrol cruiser foolish enough to pursue criminals into their territory was overwhelmed by bandits while a more forceful response drew the ire of a navy that historically had no qualms against orbital bombardment in retaliation. The Galaxy had 'learned' to tolerate a certain amount of banditry in the surrounding sectors as the price for not provoking those cruel and seemingly heartless beings.
"Well, going to look seems to be the first thing. What? What's so amusing." said Leia, the last in response to a grin from Jarsea.
"Just a memory. 'Going for a look' is what got me into the Rebellion." said Jarsea, still grinning.
"Oh. Yes. I'll bear that in mind." said Leia smiling.
"Care to let your ruler in on this?" said Seraphine.
"I never told you?"
"I know what you told everyone."
"Right. Well, the day before the Victory Plaza Massacre I had gone for a dip at the Carriana Pools when..."