His sister had the training and the skills of a consummate diplomat – but she did not really have the temper for it. From what little he'd learned, Luke had to assume that said temper was not even exclusively a paternal heritage, and his admiration for the late Bail Organa rose with every occasion the young Jedi witnessed where her upbringing kept Leia's volatile disposition in check.
There were limits to the Alderaani's restraining influence, though.
The two deputations had barely settled back into their seats around the conference table when the princess decided to cut to the chase and look for answers about Lord Vader's intentions for the galaxy by questioning the man about them straight-out.
So much like your mother…. Luke had no idea how his sister could not hear the proud whisper resounding through the Force, but any musings on the topic came to a screeching halt a second later, when his – their! – father set the nek among the banthas by offering to transfer political leadership to Leia, once things had settled down.
More than one jaw around the table literally dropped.
"You can't just give away the galaxy like some gaudy Life Day present!" Fey'lya sputtered in his first shock.
The black mask inclined slightly. "You propose that I keep it, then?"
"It was never yours to give away to begin with!" Leia snapped, joining her fellow Alliance representative in righteous indignation.
Silence stretched, just long enough to let it sink in that such statements might prompt the Sithlord and new head of the Empire into proving his claims more … palpably.
Luke might have gotten worried with the rest of the audience, if (a) someone else had taken on Lord Vader and (b) the dark flames had not been dancing with delight at his daughter's spiritedness, tinged with just the slightest hint of bittersweet memories.
"One could indeed argue the folly of pretending to own stars until the same burn out," the Sithlord said gravely. "So, let me rephrase: I do have the means to control the main parts of the galaxy – and I am offering you the chance to make use of them."
Madine found the presence of mind to ask aloud what almost everybody must have been thinking. "With all due respect for Princess Organa – but why her?"
Regret. Love. Making-things-right blazed like a solar flare for a moment. The mechanic baritone betrayed no emotion, though, when it stated flatly, "I know with absolute certainty just how unshakably she keeps to her principles."
Leia went ashy; Han's hand went for a blaster he wasn't wearing on a diplomatic mission; and Luke, despite knowing both the validity of the argument and the necessity of keeping the real reasons under wraps, tasted bile at the cruel reminder of just how the Sithlord had reached his assessment.
Less personally involved, both Madine and Fey'lya made ready to argue further – and abruptly shut their mouths when Lord Vader went on, tone dripping menace, "If anyone else here thinks they can match her credentials, let them step forward, now."
Open threats were a sound way to rekindle his sister's defiant spirit, fortunately.
"Why give up power, at all?" she challenged. "Why don't you simply take over as Emperor and keep things going as before?!"
Old pain. Old regret. Not-making-the-same-mistake-twice. "I know how to lead – but I have no idea how to govern."
Leia drew herself up, subconsciously drawing on the Force until conviction lent her a presence far beyond her physical stature, almost on par with the much larger Sithlord.
"I will NOT serve as a figurehead for your Empire!"
For a moment, the young Jedi was terrified of what the absolute and uncompromising rejection on her voice might provoke – or destroy! – inside their father, but quickly found that he needn't have worried.
Fierce pride. Poignant remembrance. Your mother would have been so proud of you!
"I have no need for a figurehead. But the galaxy has need of a head-of-state that will not fall to corruption from the power such a position brings with it." The vocoder swallowed any sentiment – if any had been expressed – but there was a hint of challenge on the deep mechanic voice now. And Skywalkers had a hard time not rising to a challenge, Luke could attest, both from personal experience and from his research about the aptly nicknamed Hero-with-no-fear.
For an endless second, Leia seemed ready to throw the gauntlet right back, Force roiling around her like a sandstorm front, nowhere near as defined and powerful as the black flames licking towards her (drawn by the tumult of conflicting emotions and yet not daring to touch), but undeniably there.
Then diplomatic training – or maybe princessly lessons of deportment – reasserted itself and allowed his sister to school her features into a cool, unreadable mask.
"And should I accept your generous offer, what role would you expect to play?" the former senator asked, "Grand Vizier, perhaps? Or would you rather be the shadow force behind the throne?!"
Six pairs of eyes stared at Leia, appalled by her escalating audacity – Luke didn't dare to avert his eyes and check how many more there were on his side of the table – the only relevant ones, however, were merely raising an amused eyebrow, by the feel of things.
"That smug snake Pestage will need replacing, true. But as I said, I am more suited for a … more active role."
The Alderaani princess bared teeth without bothering with the rest of a smile. "Such as Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, I presume. And if I would rather disband the Imperial Forces, completely?"
The assorted Imperials went back to stone-faced and Luke felt, for the first time in the spirited argument, black flames grow slightly colder.
"That would be highly inadvisable." Lord Vader said coolly.
"Would it, now?" Leia shot back, latching onto the minimal show of emotion, "please do elaborate."
The gleaming helmet inclined marginally.
"Firstly, one of the main reasons why the Alliance has found such easy allies among various smuggler and pirate groups is – apart from their general mercenary nature – that you don't have the manpower to interfere much with their activities. You provided not only excellent diversions for the forces hunting them but also, in the event of your victory, they could expect more or less free reign.
Secondly, there are billions of men and women in the Imperial Forces, many of which do not have much in the way of civilian qualifications. If you were to turn them all out abruptly, I would expect the numbers of pirates and similar outlaws to multiply exponentially overnight."
There was an uncomfortable logic in that explanation. It had been a while since the galaxy had seen an army worth the hassle of disbanding, but whenever it had happened, the results had not been pretty if done hastily, even Luke was aware of that. Judging by the silent glare that was the closest his sister ever came to admitting defeat, even a princess couldn't argue past historical precedent here, though.
This time, it was Borsk Fey'lya who picked up the flagging thread of conversation. Tone just barely clinging to civility by the skin of its teeth, he asked, "What would you do then, with such an oversized military in a galaxy that no longer is at war?"
The young Jedi felt a momentary spike of irritation at the intrusion, but then the black mask turned to answer the question.
"Hunt down pirates, slavers, spice-runners. Clean house in a way that has been neglected for far too long."
Oo oo oo oo oo oO
There was little point in refusing the offer after that, but the Alliance party requested (and received) a short recess to discuss it privately.
The doors had barely closed behind them before Han rounded on the young Jedi. "Tell me he wasn't serious, tell me, Luke!"
"Oh, he was – wasn't he, Skywalker?" Madine rubbed a weary hand over his face before he turned at Leia, expression all but apologetic. "That offer fits his profile, he's the type to make command decisions based on personal impressions and apparently you did manage to impress him, personally, Your Highness."
Leia nodded jerkily, her glare had given way to an unsettlingly stony mask, sealing even the previous turmoil inside.
Disturbed by the lack of perceivable emotions – fury followed by unnerving tranquility set off all sort of alarms at the back of Luke's mind, these days – he almost missed the next question when the intelligence chief turned back at the young Jedi.
"What about his men? They sure looked surprised, too – were they really?"
"Yes," Luke answered slowly, he had been wondering how to put his readings into words but Madine had just taken care of the explanation. "Surprised by the actual act – oh yeah. Completely blindsided, by a move that's totally out-of-character for their Supreme Commander – not so much."
"And they still trust him to know what he's doing?"
"Actually, … yes. Even more than before, I think." Now it was Luke's time to shrug apologetically at his sister. "It's the way you talked to that admiral, I guess. They… in their heads we stand for chaos, anarchy. They were surprised – but in a good way – when you showed them that laws were still laws for you."
"Justice – true justice! – can hardly be in their interest! They must know that this would mean a war crimes trial for most of them, in the future."
It sounded like something Leia would say, but his sister was still wearing that stony face and it was Fey'lya who'd spoken the words. The Bothan representative had placed himself shoulder to shoulder with the Alderaani princess, opposite Madine, Luke and Wedge while Han had Leia's back and Calrissian kept to the sidelines.
Maybe it was that neutral position that allowed for a clearer outlook, though.
"No." The baron-administrator-turned-general had lost all the charm but kept the persuasion in his voice. "The Emperor is dead; Tarkin is dead; Veers is dead. That'll have to do for a blood price."
"This is not about revenge!" Fey'lya hissed, "It's about …"
"… reality," Calrissian cut off the retort with an angry gesture. "We didn't win – Vader made peace with us. Vader who can do that because the other Imperials trust him to know what he's doing. If he loses that trust – or whatever it is he uses to keep his men in line, because a single man, no matter how powerful he is individually, cannot force an entire military to follow his lead – well, that'll be real anarchy. The Empire will unravel and we'll have a horde of warlords on our hands with nothing to lose and everything to gain by acting as ruthless as they can!
We didn't win," he repeated more softly. "We hoped we could break their back at Endor but we didn't. So most of them will have a good chunk of fighting power with them – but never enough to rule the galaxy. So whatever they lose, they'll lose for good and …"
"Scorched earth," Han finished grimly. "If they can't have it, nobody shall. Happened often enough in the Separatist Wars."
"The entire point is moot." The Force was no longer ominously quiet around Leia, nor was it churning wildly; instead it hummed with a steady resolve and her face had thawed into the unyielding determination that had escaped the first Death Star, Hoth and Bespin without breaking.
Sidestepping deliberately, his sister moved away from the previous groupings until she was standing opposite to General Calrissian. "It is too good an opportunity to be true – but it is also too good an opportunity to pass on. We will take Lord Vader by his word – and then we'll see if his precondition of 'once things have settled down' will ever be met to his satisfaction."
Han rolled his eyes in clear disbelief.
"Yeah, right," he grumbled, "And be sure to ask for Coruscant on a silver platter, while you're at it."
The smirk on Leia's face gave Luke a horrible feeling of déjà-vu. "Oh, I certainly intend to."
Not sure how much I will get into the mood for galactic conquest over the holidays. In any case: Merry Christmas everyone!
