Chapter 7: The Grand Moffs

Bail walked through the halls of the Capital building, wondering why the Emperor had requested this meeting with him. Thrawn had been gone just a few minutes when Palpatine's secretary contacted him and told him to come immediately to the Emperor's office. He had been trying to contact Sheltay's group to hear about how their refugee resettlement was going and hated having to break off the call before hearing anything from them. He knew he couldn't keep the Emperor waiting and he knew it wasn't a coincidence that this was occurring right after he had met with Thrawn. The Emperor was meeting with him to make the proposal Thrawn had told him about.

When Bail entered the Emperor's office, he found the man sitting at his desk waiting for him. His piercing eyes fell upon Bail and sent a shiver ddown his spine. Bail found the entire situation unnerving as he took his seat in front of the Emperor.

"Greetings Bail, I called you here because I have been wondering if you have been following the news out of Mandalore and heard about the most recent developments."

"Um, I'm not sure what those were." Bail decided to play dumb and let Palpatine explain what he wanted him to know.

"Well, Vader had to take the step of deposing Satine and replacing her with a new prime minister. She was harboring a fugitive Jedi, hiding them right under Vader's nose. Treason such as that could not be allowed to stand."

"That's what I heard, but I found it hard to believe," Bail said. "Despite the situation, this is quite the power grab for Vader. It's a very delicate situation, one that could cause intense anger among the citizens of the Empire."

"That is where I have to disagree with you," Palpatine began. "With the end of the war and the return to stability that I engineered, the public trusts in me completely. If I tell them a step like this was necessary, they will believe it."

"I understand they might be willing to accept this, assuming this is something that will not be repeated." Bail thought back to the conversation he just had with Thrawn and how they discussed this incident and the law Palpatine wanted to propose. "The fact Satine was deposed for harboring a fugitive Jedi greatly helps with the public being willing to accept this event. Make no mistake, though, this is an extreme grab of power by the government. It's something that I would suggest Vadar not do again."

Palpatine made a face that indicated he was not pleased, nor expecting, what he was hearing. "I'm afraid the recent war we fought shows the planetary leaders of the galaxy need to be brought under control of the central government. I know the public, and many of the lawmakers in this very capital, see the Separatist problem as just being caused by a bad class of people. The real problem was the very organization of the Republic, which favored individual autonomy over centralization. It was a fatal flaw for the nation, and one that must be dealt with immediately, or else my Empire will suffer the same fate as the Republic."

"And how do you propose to centralize everything?" Bail asked.

"I'm glad you asked," Palpatine began. "I am looking to enact a law that would create a new layer of bureaucracy and a new office. The office of Grand Moff would provide a direct line between this government and the planetary leaders. The planetary leaders will answer to these regional governors and the regional governors will answer to me. . .and the Senate."

"A law like this will be tough for many senators to accept. Most senators answer to their planetary leaders, and those leaders are not going to want their senators doing anything to limit their power."

"Yes, I know that." Palpatine had a large, fake smile on his face as he talked. "That is why I believe you are the perfect person for sponsoring this bill for me. I don't have to remind you that you have been with me from the beginning, and it would sway a lot of legislators if you were to back this."

"I find it interesting that you would believe I would be so willing to give up my power as King."

"You would not be giving up anything, Bail. You will still be the sovereign of your planet. There will just be a regional governor making sure your planet lives up to its obligations as a member of the Empire. I know you would never do anything that would cause a Grand Moff to have to depose you."

Bail picked up on the implicit threat in Palpatine's words. He was thinking less about what might happen to him specifically and more about the general power these Grand Moffs would have. "Depose me? So, these Grand Moffs will have the power to depose planetary rulers."

"Yes, there are moments may it well be necessary, as Vader has just shown. The Grand Moffs need to have some mechanism for punishment in order to enforce the laws and directives of this government."

"And that is a level of power from the central government that is going to be hard for the populace to accept."

"And that is why you are going to have your work cut out for you in whipping up votes for this law."

Bail was taken aback by the fact Palpatine was just assuming he would agree to sponsor the law and fight for it. He must have thought Thrawn's conversation with him would win him over. "Um, I haven't exactly agreed to do anything in relation to this law. Frankly, I am going to need some time to read it and consider what it does before I could even commit to voting for it."

"I have no problem with that." Palpatine spoke as if he expected Bail to come around, eventually. "I could have my aides send you the current draft of the bill to read."

"I would appreciate that." Bail shook Palpatine's hand before he left. As he walked out, his mind was lost in thought. He was thinking about Thrawn's suggestion that he go ahead and do what Palpatine wanted in sponsoring this bill. Thrawn had tried to convince him he was on his side and believed passing this law would eventually help the resistance. It could have all been lies to try and get him to do what Palpatine wanted. He was trying to keep his eyes and ears open as Thrawn suggested, to see if there was any sign he was truly helping the resistance. He had not seen nor heard anything yet, though.

...

Padme woke with a start. For a moment, she couldn't remember where she was. She could feel she was lying on top of a very comfortable mattress, and that started to jog her memory. Her mind ran through the last set of events she could remember. She had been in the cargo hold of the refugee ship when Sheltay Retrac arrived. Sheltay had recognized Padme and cooked up a ruse to get her off the ship. Padme then followed one of the woman's aides to Sheltay's diplomatic yacht, where she was escorted to the woman's bedroom. Sheltay's bed looked very inviting to her. Since she had so much trouble sleeping on the ship, she thought she would just lay down as she waited for Sheltay to return. She didn't figure she would fall asleep, she had just laid on the bed with Leia-"

As she remembered Leia was supposed to be lying next to her, she reached out to feel if she was still there. The spot where Leia should have been was empty, and her heart started racing with fear as she thought of all the things that could have happened to her baby. She darted up in bed and was immediately put at ease when she saw Sheltay walking around with Leia in her arms. She was making faces at the girl and Leia was responding by laughing and cooing in delight.

"Sorry Padme, I didn't mean to scare you by taking Leia like that," Sheltay was extremely apologetic for causing Padme such a scare. "You were asleep, and she was awake. I've been missing my own baby and couldn't resist playing with Leia a little and pretending that Winter, my daughter, was here with me."

Padme shivered with relief when she heard Sheltay call her by her name. While she hadn't been journeying long, she had been extremely worried, much more than she knew, about what might happen to her. Now that she was safe, she became overcome with emotion and started crying. She fought it the best she could, as she wouldn't have felt dignified breaking down in sobs. She couldn't help it, though, after a few tears fell from her eyes, she convulsed a few times as the tears started flowing.

"I can't imagine how tough the last year must have been for you." Sheltay spoke sympathetically as she sat down on the bed next to Padme. She reached out and rubbed Padme's back and shoulder. "It was quite a shock for me to see you alive. I had to work to hide my surprise when I recognized you. I think we got you off that ship without anyone suspicious of who you are. I didn't tell my aides anything about your real identity, they truly believe I am just helping a random refugee with a sick child, and they will continue to believe that until I tell them otherwise."

Padme finally got her sobbing to stop and wiped the last of the tears from her face. Sheltay made one final point. "I don't need to know anything about how you ended up here, or where you intend to go. I am completely at your service and will do whatever you want me to do."

Leia was reaching out for her mother. As Padme took the baby from Sheltay, she remembered how the ship's captain had wondered if she had stolen the girl. "This is truly my baby. I gave birth to her almost a year ago. I was just a couple months pregnant with her when everyone assumed I died."

"Yes, I remember seeing you at the Peace ball that was held right before you left for the summit. You were wearing clothes that were much looser than your normal style. I didn't think much of it at the time, I figured you were just trying out a new look, but everything makes sense now." Sheltay paused as she considered something. "As I said before, though. I don't need to know anything about the last year."

"No, I want to tell it," Padme said. After taking a deep breath, she started telling Sheltay everything. She went all the way back to the beginning, on Alderaan, informing the woman about her relationship with Anakin, how they had a secret marriage, and how she became pregnant by him. She then went into all the events of the peace negotiations. It was extremely difficult for her to get out the words that Anakin was Vader. Sheltay was absolutely shocked. Her mouth was agape after hearing the news, and Padme wasn't sure how much she was digesting after that.

Padme hesitated on telling Sheltay how Thrawn had helped her escape. She wasn't sure about that information getting out, as she wasn't sure if she would be causing problems for him. She figured Sheltay could be trusted and told her everything about Thrawn's assistance. Sheltay simply kept the look of shock that had appeared on her face after hearing about Vader.

When Padme was finally finished telling her story, Sheltay leaned over and wrapped both her and Leia in a warm embrace. "You have the most remarkable strength I have ever seen out of anyone." When she broke the embrace and leaned back, Padme could see the look of weariness on her face. "If you don't mind me asking, you left out one detail of your story. What do you intend to do now?"

"I wish to find Vader and bring him back to the light. I have come to believe if I could just find him and talk with him, I could remind him of the man he used to be. I had figured on making my way to Naboo first, but now that you found me, I am going to have to change my plans. Bail should be able to tell me where Vadar might be. That is, if you think he will help me in that endeavor."

"Bail wants this horrible nightmare to end as soon as possible. If he can find out where Vader is for you, he will do so. The one problem is Vader doesn't travel anywhere without an entire army. There is no way you could ever get close to him to even try and talk with him."

"We have to give it a try." Padme was adamant as she spoke. "Contact Bail, please. Let him know I am alive and with you. Ask if we can meet on Alderaan. We can try and put together a plan there."

"I will do as you wish."

...

"Obi-Wan Kenobi, here?" Darth Vader was being told what he expected. He was in the presidential office, sitting behind Satine's former desk. Sitting across from him was Prime Minister Almec, who had just revealed the information.

"Yes, it appears that Obi-Wan Kenobi was hiding out here for a couple months. Satine herself was opposed to Palpatine's ascension to Emperor and sought to fight against him. She sent out her Mandalorian warriors to find wayward Jedi and bring them here, but Obi-Wan was the only one they could find. Once here, he and Satine became very close, and while he convinced her it was too dangerous to have her warriors actively seek surviving Jedi, they did try and spread the word that this planet would be a safe haven for them, hoping the Jedi would get the message and come here."

"Why did Obi-Wan leave?"

"The terrorist organizations here, such as Death Watch, were beginning to get word of his presence. He fled here, but he apparently revealed his destination to Satine. If any Jedi showed up here, she was to send them to this undisclosed location."

"And were you able to find what this undisclosed location was."

"No, Satine is the only one who knows the location. We have been interrogating her constantly, but so far she has resisted all our attempts to extract this information."

"Well try harder!" Vader screamed as he lunged forward.

"Yes, my master." Almec stood and bowed to Vader before pivoting and marching away.