Heart of Darkness

Coruscanti Interlude

Cka3ka

Star Wars…

It is now two years before a New Hope. Revolt simmers under the surface of the Empire threatening to boil over. Emperor Palpatine has ordered a new directive making any dissent expressed illegal. Mere thoughts are now crimes. Rebels and Rebel sympathizers have been jailed, tortured, and killed. Rumors of an Imperial weapon that could destroy an entire world spread. The Rebellion wavers and is threatening to break apart. Hope for the Galaxy lies in a young inexperienced Senator…

Leia yawned as she listened to several older senators discuss the merits of the Emperor's new law. It was just her luck to arrive on Coruscant the day that the Decree of Imperial Loyalty was issued from the Grand Vizier's office. The decree stated that any expression of disloyalty or dissatisfaction against the Emperor was subject to legal punishment. She had to admit it was a horrible piece of legislation, but then again she wasn't the one passing it. In fact, it suited her just fine since the legislation would surely be misinterpreted by the power hungry Moffs and used to oppress the various sentients around the galaxy. That would lead to more resentment against the Empire which would make bringing down the Empire all that much easier. From that point of view, she supported the decree whole heartedly.

As it was, she didn't understand why this senator from Fonder was so adamant in tying the noose around his own neck. He was rambling on how about this decree made just thinking about something a crime. He was going on and on about how this violated every known Galactic tradition. Was he simply stupid? The fool wanted the Senate to send a petition to the Emperor stating that the Senate firmly opposed such limitations on the freedom of speech. Any senator of consequence who signed that petition was as good as dead. I might as well do a good deed and save this idiot's life. If he isn't stupid he'll know he owes me a favor.

Leia pressed a button to signal that she wished to be recognized. She knew that she would be since she was the newest member of the senate and Wilhuff Tarkin, who now presided over the Senate, would be curious if she would be an ally or an opponent even worth considering.

"The chair recognizes Senator Alderaan, rang Tarkin's dry voice. "Welcome to the Coruscant, Senator."

Leia touched a button on her seat and the circular platform floated into the middle of the Senate. "Thank you chairman, I am honored to be a part of this esteemed body," began Leia. "Fellow senators and guests… the honorable Senator Fondor urges us to send a petition to the Emperor to revoke the Decree of Imperial Loyalty. He states that this decree violates all traditional notions of criminal punishment. He calls it a thought crime, that mere thought is now enough to convict a citizen for a crime. I would urge the Senator to reread the body of the decree. It seems to me that it is the expression of the thought that is the crime. This is at a very minimum a substantial step forward from mere thought. One could liken this to a money counter who is placed in front of ten million credits. No doubt he thinks about stealing the money quite often, but he must make a substantial step forward—such as pocketing some credits. Here the dissident can think all he wants about the Emperor, but he is not guilty of anything until he commits the act of expression. Surely anyone can see the difference between that and a thought crime. If it is against Galactic tradition to make illegal an act, then we should surely petition the Emperor to rescind all statutes on thievery or murder. Honorable Chairman, let us dispense with this trivial issue, and put this to vote. Alderaan votes no to any form of censure or petition against the Decree of Imperial Loyalty."

Leia's face remained a mask as a ripple of murmurs spread throughout the Senate chamber. The look of shock on Fondor's face was almost comical. Leia was sure that he had been expecting Alderaan's support and so had the rest of the Senate. She would give them something to talk about and that would start many of the factions to start coming to her to see if they could pry her loose from her father's traditional stances. It was exactly what she wanted.

The vote happened very quickly. It was almost unanimously in support of Alderaan's rejection of the petition. The few yes's were almost certainly Palpatine trolls that sought to bait out a few rebels. These were the stupid ones. The smarter ones at least abstained from voting and the actual dangerous ones were the ones who saw through Leia's maneuver and voted no with everyone else.

"The vote is tallied. The censure and petition against the Decree of Imperial Loyalty is rejected," announced Tarkin. "Is there anything else Senator Alderaan?"

Leia touched her speaker button again. "Yes, Chairman. Alderaan would like to propose the commissioning of a committee of oversight into the over expenditure in unnecessary military spending."

Another ripple of murmurs went through the chamber. It was well known that Tarkin was one of the major backers of military spending. He was a Grand Moff after all and responsible for the doctrine that the Imperial military now followed—named after himself of course. The Tarkin Doctrine stated that to rule through fear and make a few very clear examples now would reduce rebellion in the future. Leia didn't disagree with that doctrine, but nor did she entirely agree with it either.

"The chair recognizes Senator Kuat," echoed Tarkin's voice.

"Honorable Chairman," said Viqi Shesh. "Kuat motions to table any such committee until the Rebellion is dealt with. Such a committee would hamper our troopers from performing their duty during this time of crisis."

It was all Leia could do to keep a straight face and not burst out into outright laughter. This reminded Leia of her school debate class except now the two were arguing on Imperial center on the greatest stage in the galaxy. The dirty looks that Viqi was flashing weren't helping her keep her composure. To anyone else, they were looks of annoyance maybe even outright hatred.

The vote to table Leia's proposal for commissioning a committee was as fast as the last one. Many who resented Tarkin, Kuat and the other arms manufacturing worlds voted against. Those who curried to them voted for. In the end, Viqi won and Leia sedately returned her pod back to its position in the chamber. She'd done what she had come to do and now she began to let her mind drift onto other matters. There was simply so much to do to bring down Palpatine.

Winter's touch broke Leia out of her thoughts. "Princess, the Senate is adjourning. It's time for us to go."

As the two began to leave with their escorts, Leia knew she had another problem. Since she had inherited Bail's office, she had inherited his staff as well. The problem was that the entire staff was loyal to him—or if not to him than someone else, but the bottom line was that no one was loyal to her. Not even Winter. She wasn't sure what she was going to do about it yet, but she had to do something. Privacy was essential for her to practice Jedi arts with Siri, let alone Sith arts. She also had to meet with her father and having a page or servant run into him would mean instant death for that sentient. It would also mean that she would have to come up with some sort of explanation. Then there was Winter. Her friend certainly still reported to Bail, and Leia wasn't sure what she was going to do about that.

"Senator Alderaan!" shouted a voice that Leia knew well. She turned to see Viqi Shesh and a horde of her associates walk towards her. It was almost like her first day of school at that educational center.

"Senator Kuat," Leia greeted neutrally. "What can I do for you?"

"I was most surprised at your proposal today. The Alderaanian economy is closely tied with Kuat's. I would have thought that Kuati interests would be… more prevalent on your agenda."

"I was thinking on Galactic interest as a whole," replied Leia smoothly.

"That is such an Alderaanian view of the universe," retorted Viqi. Her voice slipped slightly into a young teenager's—more teasing and sarcastic. She realized her slip almost immediately and added, "Forgive me, I did not mean any insult."

"None taken," assured Leia with a ghost of a smile on her lips. Watching Viqi struggle was a delight. She was usually so self assured.

"Kuati interests are also very much tied with Alderaan. Perhaps, we can meet to discuss certain issues on our respective agendas so that we do not… collide with each other in the future?" asked Viqi.

"That sounds like an excellent idea. Are you free this evening?"

"I can make room. Perhaps an early working dinner at the Alderaanian compound?" asked Viqi.

"That sounds excellent," replied Leia smoothly. That was a surprising request. She would have expected to go to the Kuati compound. She would have to ask Viqi about that later.

"Until then, Senator Alderaan," said Viqi as she strode away.

"Princess, we have a meeting with Senator Ord Mantell this evening," said Winter.

Leia knew that Ord Mantell was an old ally of her father. Still, she had to speak with Viqi and there was no better chance. "Reschedule it Winter. I need to speak with Kuat about a number of issues."

"Your father won't be pleased," remarked Winter. "He set this up weeks in advance."

"I can deal with his displeasure," replied Leia.

She had to get loyal people soon or she would end up killing Winter and half her staff. She was not accustomed to having to hide her actions or motives, at least not from the people close to her. Simply too much to do and not enough time.

Later…

The Alderaanian Senatorial residence at 500 Imperia comprised of several floors and dozens of rooms. There was room for the staff, entertainment, work offices, and a communications suite. Leia had turned things upside down when she rejected her foster father's windowed office for her place of work. While she still kept it for official business such as greeting unimportant senators on mundane issues, her real meetings—when she started having them—would be elsewhere. She had chosen a suite of adjoining rooms that were once servant quarters. She had one of the two entrances sealed up, and then turned the outer room into her official office. The inner rooms became her private workplace and her training room.

Now, Leia sat in a large leather chair concentrating on the lecture that the unnamed Sith Lord from her Sith holocron was giving. She'd heard the lecture before; after all, she had finished the material in this holocron when she was thirteen. However, now she was almost ten times as powerful in the Force and her knowledge had expanded greatly through her lessons with Siri Tachi. She was hoping that she could pick information from there that she did not the first time around.

The title of the lesson was simply, Interpreting Force Visions. Leia had been pondering the meaning of her visions of Luke that she had on Tatooine a great deal since she had spoken to her father on Tarsis. She knew that it bothered her father greatly that they were letting Luke stay on Tatooine. While she had convinced him of the necessity of it, she wasn't sure if she was right especially since she had been receiving more and more glimpses into the future. One of these visions was of Luke and her father battling each other in front of the Emperor. She didn't like that one at all, but she wouldn't have been too concerned if it were simply confined to that—after all there could be many explanations of why they were fighting. What really concerned her were the other visions of the same place in time. There was one where she kneels in front of the Emperor and then strikes her brother down with Force lightning. Another one showed the same time, but she saw herself execute her father with two sabers—one shearing off his arm and the other penetrating his chest. This one was especially disturbing because she had recently decided to move to a dual saber technique.

The future was always in motions. These were words by the Jedi Master Yoda as told to her by Siri. These were the words that Yoda had told to her father too. He'd also told her father to let go of his attachments. She wasn't about to take Yoda's advice, but she wasn't also going to rush into things. Her father had self fulfilled his vision of his wife's death because he had acted rashly. Damn, I hate the Force sometimes. She didn't know what to do. Some Jedi or Sith must have had this problem before.

There was a slight touch of the Force that Leia recognized. Siri had become the unofficial majordomo to her private chambers. If anyone wanted to see Leia in her real office then they had to go to Siri and she almost always let Leia know through a slight nudge in the Force that she was coming just in case Leia was doing something Force-like. It wouldn't do for someone to catch her in the middle of studying a holocron, Jedi or Sith.

She quickly stretched out her senses only to find Viqi and Siri out in front of her door. With a wave of her hand, the door slid open. Siri, dressed in a plain but still sharp grey robes, led Viqi in.

Leia noted that her friend had changed her looks over the last six months. Her long hair now only reached to her shoulders before parting upwards making it look as if there were two small wings protruding from the back of her head. The dark green senatorial robes looked good on her. She held a sleek black attaché case in her left hand.

"Senator Alderaan," greeted Viqi formally. She gave Leia a precise bow between equals.

"Senator Kuat, I am honored that you agreed to meet with me," replied Leia as she watched Siri step out of the room and the door hissing shut. As soon as she was sure that no one else was around, she added, "Slut."

Viqi Shesh, esteemed Senator from Kuat, grinned back. "Nice white Alderaanian dress… and what's with the cinnamon bun curls. You look like you have two satellite dishes on your head… schutta."

"Whatever! Head with Wings," laughed Leia as she embraced her teenage friend. She gestured for Viqi to take a seat in a chair opposite her. "How've you been?"

"Besides almost having an aneurysm when I saw you put that idiot Fondor in his place today? I'm a Senator? I mean… how awesome is that?" giggled Viqi in typical teenage fashion as all formality evaporated between the two girls. "And you never told me that you were Leia ORGANA. I now understand why none of those taunts at school about being poor and low class ever bothered you."

Leia just shrugged. "I couldn't stand those… schuttas anyway."

"Well, I hope you learned something from them at least. If you can't stand those barracudas wait until you have to go to one of the Imperial balls," laughed Viqi as she sat down.

"Oh, I'm looking forward to those balls. The barracudas are going to find that there are more dangerous fish in the sea."

"I don't doubt it… Sooo…"

"What?" asked Leia.

"What's the plan?" grinned Viqi. "Oh come on Leia, I might be Ms. Teen socialite but I'm not stupid. All of a sudden I meet Darth Vader of all people and then by magic I'm Senator Kuat. I mean my family is powerful, but we aren't one of the great merchant houses. So that means someone pulled strings to get me in… most likely Vader and why would he do that? Well the only reason is because he thinks I might be of help to you. He's stacking the deck here. Tell me I'm wrong?"

"You're right."

"So what's Lord Vader's plan?" asked Viqi, eyebrows arched.

"My plan. I'm in charge of the operation… umm… Before I go any further, you do realize who tried to kill me right?"

"I actually really try hard not to think about that… or your powers or anything else that stinks of Jedi. Willful ignorance might just keep me alive and you for that matter."

"Good. What about your people? I take it that since you wanted to meet here that you don't have your own house in order." asked Leia.

"I'm a seventeen year old merchant princess with no political experience other than a few dinners and stuff with my dad and his associates. Do you think anyone takes me seriously yet?" snarled Viqi as she began to pace back and force.

"It's been six months," smirked Leia. "And you hate when people don't take you seriously… I'd have figured you would have had a few of them murdered by now."

"Who's going to do the work if I murdered them? Not me… I wouldn't have a clue where to start. Hello again? Seventeen year old merchant princess here," said Viqi rolling her eyes. Seeing the look of annoyance on Leia's face, Viqi sighed and got serious. "I need more time Leia. All I can do right now is speak in the Senate and put on a good face. All the statistics and politicking… I'm just getting the hang of that. My deputy is just beginning to grudgingly admit that I might be a good Senator."

"Viqi… I don't know how much time we'll have. I need… I need a way to get weapons to various groups quietly and without anyone knowing."

"Arm the Rebels?" asked Viqi insightfully.

"Exactly… do you have a problem with that? You need to let me know if you do right now."

Viqi stayed silent for a second. When she spoke again, Leia was surprised at the quiet mature conviction in it. "No… Kuat is in a good situation right now, but with Tarkin's star rising…" Viqi shuddered and trailed off. "That man is dangerous. He's been hinting that there is this new Imperial super weapon and if any planet gets out of line then the Empire will wipe out the whole planet… We'd all just become slaves and I don't think I want that to happen to my home world."

"It's called the Death Star," confirmed Leia. "It's a battle station that will have the firepower to destroy an entire planet. It's not operational yet but once it is… all planets will be at the mercy of the Emperor."

"Weapons to the Rebels would be a good first step… I think that wouldn't be so hard to arrange, I know lots of Kuati companies that would at least sell them weapon parts. KDY itself might want to unload a few old clone war era ships to the right groups for a profit. The question is how do we make contact and who is going to be our conduit?"

"I'll find someone. I think that might be first on my list of things to do."

"Are you sure you can find someone trustworthy?" asked Viqi skeptically. "Smugglers are kind of the scum of the universe."

"No worries. If they aren't I'm sure I can think of someway to convince them to be," grinned Leia evilly.

"You have a way too psychotic look in your eye," noted Viqi. She looked past Leia to where the holocron was still activated. "What is that?" she asked curiously.

"Some research," replied Leia vaguely.

"About?" asked Viqi not catching the hint or perhaps just ignoring it. Viqi was like that sometimes.

Leia was about to evade the question when she suddenly changed her mind. She was curious about the views of a non force user on visions of the future. "Do you remember that day when I thought Jix was killed?"

"How can I forget…? I was with you, remember? I saw you kill those men, I almost got killed myself. I don't think I will ever forget it."

"What if you knew it was going to happen? I mean… I love Jix like a brother right? And Kaz… well he was very dear to me too… if I could prevent it… should I?"

"Like seeing the future. Of course, why wouldn't you?"

Thinking about her father and mother, Leia added, "But what if in trying to prevent it, I cause it?"

Viqi stopped and stared at her for a second. She stood up and paced back and forth her brows furrowed in thought. "The Shesh in me is thinking…" Her comment elicited a small chuckle from Leia. She paced for a few more seconds and then looked thoughtfully at Leia.

"So… you have like a vision and you see something bad happening… Like let's say you see me point this blaster at you," said Viqi as she slipped a tiny blaster from her sleeve into her hand and leveled it directly at Leia.

Leia cocked an eyebrow at her friend but did nothing else.

"Vader hurt my father very badly… and you are responsible," said Viqi, her voice completely changing from a friendly tone to one full of menace. "You've destroyed my entire life."

Leia didn't dodge when Viqi pulled the trigger. Leia just held out her hand and dissipated the shot.

Viqi lowered the blaster and slipped it back into her sleeve as if nothing had happened. "So, let's just say you saw that scene… would you think I was betraying you?"

"When the hell did you start carrying a blaster around in your sleeve?" boggled Leia. "Are you in danger?"

"I'll be fine," sighed Viqi. "Don't worry about me just answer the question."

"Almost certainly I would think you were betraying me."

"But when I just shot at you, were you in the least bit worried?"

"Not at all… Not in the context of our conversation and the fact that you should know that firing straight at me is probably the dumbest thing you could do."

"So let's say you see this vision and you start not trusting me..."

"I'd start doing things to you… pushing you away from me. It might eventually lead me to do something that would break our friendship… maybe even make you hate me. Then the scene might really happen," mused Leia as she grasped Viqi's point.

"Exactly. You know we're a family of lawyers. It's like hearing testimony or evidence out of context. It just doesn't work. It's like if someone showed me a glimpse of the future of Vader choking out my dad, I would have flipped out. I would have done anything to prevent that. But… it happened and then Vader made me a Senator and my dad is ecstatic at the way our family's fortunes are rising. If I had done something differently like try to stop Vader instead of standing up for you, my dad and I both would be dead right now. It's very easy to misinterpret things, Leia. I think it's a very bad idea to rely on visions." Viqi paused and then the seriousness went away. "Unless of course you see a cute boy in the future for me!"

Leia touched the Force and looked hard at Viqi. She began to see the lines of fate weaved around her and suddenly several images appeared before her. One was of Viqi handing Leia over to a monstrous looking creature. The word Vong sizzled through her mind. Several other images skipped past; one of Luke holding a giggling baby and then handing him back to Viqi; another of Viqi on Tatooine holding hands with a man in an orange flight suit; several images of Viqi standing next to her in the Imperial Senate; and finally she saw Viqi giving her life for a young boy with sandy hair and blue eyes. In several of the images she felt betrayal and knew for certain that she would feel betrayed by her friend many times over her lifetime. For a second the thought of cutting Viqi down here and now crossed her mind—but Leia knew it was just the Dark Side trying to seduce her. Viqi was right. You couldn't take these visions at their face value. You could only use them as markers in time. "I think you're going to marry a fighter pilot," pronounced Leia with a smile.

"What?!" cried Viqi dismayed. "I'd as soon as marry a pilot as you would a spice smuggler!" Viqi paused a second and then grinned, "Unless of course he's like a Soontir Fel type. I mean, wow, he's hot."

"Well… I did once try to bring in a bounty on a hot smuggler," reminisced Leia.

Viqi grinned. "I never pegged you as the type."

"Right… whatever… anyway I got sent a pair of free tickets to the Alderaanian ballet. Want to go?" smiled Leia. "Box seats… best seat in the house and we have the whole box to ourselves.

"Well… I guess if we work hard and get everything hammered out in the next few hours I can make that. And I guess I can put off researching arms companies until next week."

"What do you mean we have to work hard?" asked Leia carefully. She didn't like the fact that Viqi was now opening her attaché case and pulling out a thick stack of papers.

"We as in we have a lot of stuff to work on… let me see… Alderaan-Kuat trade treaties 1201 (Patten rights), 1321 (Hyper lane tolls), 1555 (Extradition). I also want to take a look at the Treaty for Port Tax section 52.001, and also the remedies for Kuati Citizens as stated in MPC section 4.01 (b) (2) for any violation of misdemeanor statutes. I have like 15 reports that you need to look at…"

"STOP!" cried Leia. "I don't want to hear anymore… I'm not a bureaucrat… I hate paperwork."

Viqi looked evilly at her friend and said, "Why Leia… don't you know that even Sith Lords have to do paper work?"

AN: Lots and Lots of EU characters coming in... so get ready to get your Wiki going! Bonus points to the person who can figure out who they are going to meet at the ballet--fits strictly in with her/his talents in the EU! Ok anyway this was kinda a filler chapter... now its done so we can get to more plot movement and action/drama. And thank you to all the reviewers... this story wouldn't happen without u all.