In another bout of blunt directness, Leia repeated her question as soon as the Sithlord had come again within a conversational distance.
"Lord Vader, what would I find if I dug into the Manarai Mountains?" were her exact words.
The Sithlord's answer was a cryptic, "A gravitational anomaly."
"A gravitational anomaly," his daughter repeated skeptically. "I did not know that Director Isard was of such a delicate disposition that a fluke of gravity would cause her such a fright."
The black helmet inclined. "Indeed not. Her reaction proved, however, that she did not expect me to suspect anything amiss about the mountains – and her fellow councilors' confusion showed that they were unaware of anything untoward, as well. Therefore, an immediate action is not necessary, the situation will keep for a day."
Leia opened her mouth to retort something cutting – and then the trained political leader reasserted itself.
"Very well," she said with just a hint of sarcasm on her voice, "Let us keep the mountains in their original shape for a day longer. What are your intentions for the Assembly of Moffs?"
"The title Moff was reinstated to call back to ancient glories. The position itself, on the other hand, was left woefully undefined. They were meant to be a key instrument of the New Order; meant to maintain order and enforce the law beyond a planetary level, serve as a check for the local governments to prevent corruption, but not interfere otherwise. The details were, unfortunately, left entirely to the respective Moff's discretion.
In over a thousand sectors, a majority has found a workable way of interaction between local administration and sector government; inertia has held most of those arrangements in place despite the dissolution of the Senate. Where said arrangements are not based on reciprocated corruption, I intend to keep the status quo and formalize it. The rest will need to be replaced."
"An ambitious project," the former senator conceded, sounding almost involuntarily intrigued, "but surely you cannot expect to reform the Moff system in a single strike? How will you identify the corrupt ones, for example, and what set of rules should the others comply with? Let alone those who 'will need to be replaced' – what will happen to them and what base will be used to appoint their successors?!"
"Unlike most of the Imperial leading class – and that must include the Senate – I have roamed the galaxy on a roving commission for the last two and a half decades, Princess. I am at least passingly acquainted with the lion's share of Moffs – in their home sectors! The obviously corrupt ones are already known to me. The rest will learn that their actions will come under close scrutiny in the near future. As for the other points you have raised – what would you propose?"
As fast as Leia responded to that question, she had to have expected it, had set up her previous ones as a means to test the Sithlord for sincerity when talking about her role as head-of-state.
"Accountability to the law as much as anyone else; law enforcement only for crimes perpetrated outside planetary jurisdictions or across several different ones, or if a planetary law enforcement agency explicitly asks for assistance; emergencies are emergencies and if the local administration is corrupt or otherwise acting against law and order they can move against them, too, but whatever they do, it better holds up in an inquiry afterwards – that goes especially for excessive use of force!"
While his sister inhaled for – Luke was sure! – the first time since starting on the list, their father used the pause to rumble, "Reasonable."
Leia blinked and Vader continued, "I was to add some details about repairs and replacements for equipment in-sector and a general prohibition to get involved in regional economy, directly or by proxy, that should minimize the temptations for corruption."
The politician's daughter – by blood and adoption – rallied herself. "The latter would effectively serve as a ban for any natives to apply to the post."
"Yes. Personal entanglements are more hindrance than help for a command post, in my experience."
"Humph. Very well, then. If the Moffs as a whole are to be subject to the law like anyone else, then the same must be true for the corrupt ones – and those who obviously abused their powers. They will have to stand trial for their crimes."
"As you wish. You realize, of course, that not all of them – and especially those with a penchant for excess violence – will submit quietly."
"Of course. But as much as you seem to prefer to clean house with an iron broom, I must remind you that the agreement was that I would not be a figurehead. If you mean to stand by that, you cannot simply pick-and-choose and throw me only those morsels you deem appropriate."
It was funny how deafening the silence could become when suddenly some two dozen people stopped breathing, to stare aghast at the petite princess challenging the Sithlord.
Luke could not read his father properly – as soon as he'd stepped on Coruscanti soil, the man had snapped up rock-solid shields, apparently by deeply ingrained habit – but wasn't particularly worried about his sister's continued well-being. The lack of distraction allowed the young Jedi to notice a detail that probably slipped past everyone else; it wasn't anything spectacular, either, just a subtle, likely subconscious shift of weight, with Han leaning one way and the white armor behind Leia the other, both bringing themselves a little closer to the princess. Just in case.
Collecting generals, indeed, Luke thought with an internal smirk, and then he realized that the two so contrasting figures – black and white, huge and petite, etc. etc. – were nonetheless facing each other in a mirror image of the other's bearing.
It was really a toss-up which of the generals would make the connection first, he concluded gloomily.
Before the moment stretched for too long and the similarities became too obvious, the deep mechanic voice mercifully broke the tense silence.
"I will continue to deal with immediate threats as I see fit," the Sithlord declared, with absolute finality. But then the gleaming black helmet inclined minutely. "You raised a valid point, though. Any other decisions pertaining to the future course of the government will require your input."
While the surrounding populace restarted breathing, the Alderaani princess nodded regally. "Then we have an accord, Lord Vader."
With the trained diplomat's persuasiveness and her own dogged persistence she returned to the previous topic. "Speaking of decisions: when will you address the Assembly of Moffs?"
"In an hour and ten. Maybe we should discuss further details in a less … transitional environment?"
It went all political minutiae, from thereon.
Oo oo oo oo oo oO
The Assembly of Moffs took place in a large rotunda, a tiered room that could have held all of the thousand-plus sector governors in the flesh. As it were, only a few hundreds had actually flocked to Coruscant to pay the new galactic ruler their respects in person, the rest was represented by a massive battery of holographic busts.
Again, everyone but a handful of Red Guards had been consigned to observer status (and it was arguable if the same wasn't true for the latter), but at least this time, they were standing in the same room, a row of shadowy figures on the topmost gallery. Sublime acoustics carried the softest sound across the room when the Sithlord took center stage, many rows below.
"This is a time of change," Lord Vader started again, but as he intended for a majority of the attendees to participate in said change this time, he continued to elaborate.
"Two decades ago, the Empire rose to thunderous applause from the ruins of a Republic felled by sloth and corruption. The visions of the New Order were worthy of that applause but they were not always implemented as intended and if they were, they did not always keep."
The Sithlord turned to face all of the audience in succession, the movement unhurried but with his cape flaring out behind him, nonetheless.
"That will change. The title Moff was reinstated to call back to ancient glories and the position was meant to be a key instrument of the New Order …"
While his father repeated his conception of the job almost verbatim from how he had explained it to Leia – and then went on to lay down the rules he had hashed out with her – Luke used the time to scan through the assembled governors.
They were all rather wary but only a few seemed to get worse the longer Lord Vader spoke; quite a number were political animals enough to look for advantages no matter what way the wind was blowing now.
The young Jedi was trying to decipher whatever information the blue silhouettes of the numerous faraway moffs revealed about their mindsets, when his father ended his speech with the assertion that "Mismanagement will not be tolerated; corruption will be punished."
Another measured survey of the assembly while the apprehension rose again. It spiked when the masked gaze stopped sweeping the rows and the Sithlord focused his attention on one of the upper tiers.
"Moff Bakh, for malfeasance in office you are herewith relieved of your duties and placed under arrest."
A sharp gesture sent one of the Red Guards after an unexpectedly young man in the third row from the top, gaping like a fish at the sudden turn of events. His querulous protests came to a (literally) screeching halt when the Guard come to fetch him brought his force pike within touching distance.
Without another glance at the arrestee, Lord Vader turned at one of the holograms.
"Grand Moff Kaine," he went on, and somewhere across the galaxy a solidly built, middle-aged man froze, "the Subterrel sector will be under your direct control until a suitable replacement has been found."
It took a second, but then the distant grand moff had pulled himself together.
"Yes, Lord Vader," he replied with a small bow.
"Moff Doscan …", "Moff Getelles … " The same scene repeated with a thickset man in a lower row and a rather too smug-looking Tigellinus sitting in the first tier, and a mid-height moff and an elderly grand moff named Therbon, respectively.
Then the Dark Lord's attention focused on another hologram.
"Grand Moff Hissa, for gross malfeasance in office you are herewith relieved of your duties and placed under arrest."
The distant grand moff bared inhumanly pointed teeth.
"You have no power …" he started before the deep mechanic baritone cut him off.
"I have the authority to do exactly that. Do you deny it?"
Hissa laughed scornfully.
"I will take that as a yes," the Sithlord concluded. "An unwise choice."
A black-gauntleted hand was half raised and then fell abruptly. Half a second later, the faraway grand moff stiffened, eyes bulging; then a dark liquid welled up from between his lips and he crumbled out of the recording range of the holo connection.
The silence once again went deafening.
There was a healthy dose of theatrics involved, here. Luke knew for a fact that his father had not used the Force to somehow reach across some fifty thousand lightyears and kill a man on the other side of the galaxy, as most of the onlookers obviously assumed; with that foreknowledge he could have sworn that there had been a blurred movement right behind the dying man, caught in the recording beams the moment Hissa had collapsed.
Doesn't change the fact that he has the means to see a rather powerful man dead, half a galaxy away, the exact moment it suits his purposes, a rather unsettled voice at the back of the young Jedi's mind remarked.
Completely matter-of-fact, his father went on to saddle Grand Moff Therbon with another duty, as "the Kessel sector will be under your purview until a more permanent decision about its further governance has been reached."
"Fear. He's using fear to keep the galaxy in line!" Leia – who'd watched the whole affair in frowning silence, so far – hissed, voice so full of furious loathing and a bone-deep horror of 'Not again!' underneath that for a moment Luke could all but see the specter of a tall, gaunt, elderly man (that the young Jedi had never actually met in life) rise between them.
Hard to argue with that. In see-through, blue monochrome it was impossible to say if the next hologram went pale when his name came up as the list went on, but the man's terrified eagerness to comply was crystal clear.
Nevertheless, Luke didn't think the comparison was fair. Before he could come up with a proper counter-argument, though, metallic distortion beat him to the punch.
"Not the galaxy, Princess, the moffs. One man's life for the unnecessary destruction of a whole oversector fleet or more – that is a more than reasonable price."
"Don't quote any long-dead strategists at me, I dare you!" his sister snarled. "And what is stopping him from trying the same tactic elsewhere if it yields such an easy success here?!"
Cursing the ghosts summoned no doubt by a deluge of grand moff uniforms to the deepest of the nine hells, the young Jedi reached for his sister's arm.
"Leia, …" her started before Han's low drawl cut him off.
"Yeah, 'cause that worked so well, last time," the Corellian muttered sarcastically, before he turned dead-serious.
"Sorry to say so, Your Worshipfullness, but I'm going to side with him, here" – a negligent wave towards white armor – "one man's dead – just one! Really deserving guy, too, from what I've heard, but in any case, Vader's taking a much more individual approach than … uh. You know."
"Eloquent as ever," the former senator said caustically, but with two different sets of arms reaching to convey reassurance, the heat in her glare was slowly abating, the quicksilver temper burning itself out as quickly as it had been roused. With a weary sigh, she went back to observing the proceedings with a heavy scowl.
One other hologram tried to resist, ducking out of sight the moment his name was uttered; the connection flickered for a moment and when it became clear again, a severed head was hanging in the projection, suspended by some unseen means, and Grand Moff Kaine was handed another sector (this time he seemed grimly satisfied with the distant moff's demise).
Leia's scowl deepened but she did not explode again.
All in all, there were about three dozen arrestees herded together at the foot of the dais the Sithlord was standing on when he was finished, plus another two dozen or so scattered around the galaxy, too cowed (for now!) to try and escape.
While the Red Guards lead their frightened captives … somewhere, Lord Vader sent off the remaining Moffs and Grand Moffs with the stern warning that conduct unbecoming of an official in their position would have consequences, in the future. If Luke read things correctly, more than a few were wondering if a swift and quiet resignation might not be a viable career move, under the circumstances.
The room below them had barely started to empty when Leia turned on her heels and headed for an out-of-sight staircase, evidently quite familiar with the terrain, this time.