"My Moffs," Jaina said. This was the first time she'd addressed the full Moff Council, with every chair in the chamber filled, and less than half-a-dozen of them attending by holocomm. She looked along the rows of seats, noting the new appointments she'd made, though they seemed to have already settled comfortably into the ranks.
She'd resolved the question of what to do with Braxant by reducing the size of the territory, handing the more complicated systems to other Moffs, and appointing herself as Sector Governor, which gave her theoretical control over the fleet of twelve Star Destroyers defending Bastion, and the associated TIE Fighters, escort forces and deepdock bases. No-one, including herself, seemed to seriously think she'd use them, but Admiral Nalgol seemed to appreciate reporting directly to her.
That had left a chair vacant in the room, which seemed too much like a tacit acknowledgement that a faction of the Empire was no longer represented. Rather than redecorate, she'd promoted General Sunber to become the first ever Moff of the Stormtrooper Corps, and moved up Colonel Axman, now General Axman, into his old slot as commander of the 501st Legion. No-one seemed to have noticed yet that by streamlining the internal command structure of the Empire's élite shock troops, she had brought them more closely under her own direct control.
She was starting to feel comfortable in the Grand Moff's uniform, with her hair tied back in a simple regulation braid rather than a Zenji updo, and the high heels on her boots—wedges rather than spikes today, to be as professional and practical as possible. Tahiri said that was a show of confidence.
"I wanted to brief you in person about the results of the investigation into the recent attempt to penetrate the security of Ravelin," she said. They hadn't got definitive answers yet about exactly where the cyborg Jedi clone assassins were being created, but they had a shortlist of systems to explore, and they'd obtained corroboration, either direct or indirect, of everything else they knew or suspected. "We now know that this was the work of a small number of covert assets associated with the foolish coup attempt a few weeks ago, or possibly criminal elements elsewhere in the Galaxy, with whom the conspirators were heavily involved."
She had to be careful about how she phrased everything—even in a closed session like this, she didn't want anyone over-interpreting the implications of outside involvement, or realising just how detached she now felt from the Coruscant government and the Jedi Order. But at the same time, she didn't want to say anything misleading that might end up looking like wilful misdirection.
"I can, however, reassure you all that the specific security oversight that encouraged them to risk this clumsy move has been shut down. This was achieved through a foreign technology sample brought into Imperial Space by the former High Moff. I cannot speculate about whether this represents more than stupidity on his part and opportunism by others." The most unexpected news had come in the form of a comm call from Moff Sacker, passing on a tech analysis reporting that Spanker had had a security subroutine uploaded some time earlier—either by Jag, or back when she was in Alliance space. The code certainly wasn't Imperial, and might have originally been uploaded simply to film her having sex. With that security oversight now firmly shut down, she reckoned they were entirely secure.
"As to wider motives, we believe that these recent... disturbances... represented a desperate attempt by some of High Moff Fel's former associates to conceal previous illegal activities from the scrutiny that would result, and has now resulted, from a shift in the balance of power. I can take no pleasure in the assertion that at least two former members of this Council knowingly engaged in a sustained pattern of crimes against the Empire, but you have all seen the evidence. I do not need to mention their names directly. However, I am pleased to report that the majority of the ex-Moffs are now actively assisting the Imperial Intelligence investigation."
The real surprise was how little use the ex-Moffs really were. Dorja and Saretti had been cooperative, but they hadn't told them anything they didn't know already. Reige had proved surprisingly tight-lipped. Tahiri said he wanted to hold onto the idea that he had some leverage, some power over them. Not that that had mattered. That wasn't really why Jaina had let her work him over, and he'd revealed his guilt in every action, every reaction he couldn't hide in the Force from two angry ex-Jedi. Now he was out of bacta, she might let Tahiri play with him again.
Now for the really tricky part. "I can confirm that Moff Reige has been directly implicated in these latest criminal actions. I can, additionally, confirm reports that Moff Reige has requested a new defender. I cannot comment further on this at present." The fact that Moff Reige's defender had been using their shielded conversations to pass on messages was the trickiest problem to resolve, and not just because their only real evidence was being provided by Jaina's reading of Reige in the Force. The defender, a striking redhead with a mind as sharp as a point-defense laser, was denying everything, and Jaina was prepared to believe they really hadn't known what the messages they were delivering had been about. And then there was the question of how to proceed. On the one hand, simply announcing their arrest without any explanation would seem to compromise the trial process, but actually making public what they had done would raise uncomfortable questions about the independence and integrity of the Imperial legal profession. D'Ashewl, who Jaina had always taken to be the subtlest of the three Moffs, was all for going public and then using a firing squad. But perhaps that was just making her more stubborn in her own determination to wait.
She had been surprised when Tahiri had pointed out that her old, Rebel self might have been more inclined to act like Moff d'Ashewl. If the Empire can rehabilitate former Galactic Alliance executioners, I think they can give other people the same chance.
More frustratingly, while Imperial Intelligence had traced three steps in the chain of cut-outs being used to courier the messages, all of them were apparently ignorant of the nature of the communications they'd been carrying, just as Jaina suspected the defender was as well. There was no tangible evidence to confirm they had been notifying Reige of the raid, and they still hadn't worked out exactly who he had been in contact with—all they knew was that they had been able to send cyborg assassins against them, and that they had been able to compromise her astro-droid.
But the evidence of Reige and Dorja's earlier criminal activities was helping to narrow down the search for answers.
"Rest assured, my Moffs, we may not have identified the entire network of traitors and criminals, but the Empire can certainly keep them at arms length. And I trust I have proved myself more readily adapted to the service of the Empire than some of Moff Fel's other imports and personnel choices. At present, there is no evidence to connect my ex-husband directly to the conspiracy, beyond his poor choice of political allies—but if such evidence is obtained, you will be informed immediately. I have no desire—no need—to protect his reputation. These events have only made me more aware of where my loyalty belongs, and further reinforced that commitment to the Empire. But at the same time, I will not encourage idle speculation."
She supposed she was being cautious about assuming that Jag was involved. Perhaps too cautious, but that felt like the right choice.
Thus far, the evidence didn't suggest anything more than a hidden Imperial bases or two, with some support from pirates and rogue corporate interests outside Imperial Space. And following up potential leads about the location of the cloning lab would be a good way for her and Tahiri to work into their new role as lightsaber-weilding servants of the Empire. "In my new capacity as Governor of Braxant, I am personally overseeing the reconnaissance investigation into the location of their hidden base, and I hope to have results for you all very soon. Now—any questions?"