Another endless wait. Sorry! RL – and another story – stole the muse away.

The usual thanks go to Virodeil.

The festivities went on for a few hours more, but no further incidents of life-changing or galactic magnitude occurred.

The most memorable part of the rest of the evening – as far as Luke was concerned – came just after Han had returned to his position at Leia's back: Rabakh turned up next to the young Jedi, with no forewarning, even from the Force, until the predatory alien suddenly breathed against his neck.

"You will seek out your clan?" the Noghri asked gravelly.

Luke wouldn't have put it quite that way, but, "Err, yes?"

"Good. Clan needs to know clan," Rabakh declared with great gravitas, and then faded back into the crowd as quickly and untraceably as he had appeared.

The young Jedi was left to stare after him in confusion, before he remembered his sister mentioning that the Noghri were matriarchal – or was it matrilineal? – shortly after her first meeting with the predatory aliens in Lord Vader's employ. Which meant that by Noghri standards, they were probably Luke and Leia Skywalker – or possibly Luke and Leia Vader – of clan Naberrie.

Given the dearth of living paternal relatives, the young Jedi really liked the idea. And come to think of it, those social values might also explain why Rabakh had been so vehement about the importance of Luke's mother, earlier ….

The young Jedi shook himself out of the idle musings. A trip to his mother's homeworld was definitely on the agenda, but for now they had to get through the current event – and its hopefully positive outcome – first.

Oo oo oo oo oo oO

By the time the last of the ambassadors had left, it was so late it was already early, and so even the most guarded of the Alliance members – namely their Intelligence Chief – was honestly grateful for the offer of a bed in the Palace guest suites, only two minutes away by turbolift instead of a lengthy shuttle ride.

Consequently, this made for a substantial Alliance deputation being present when the intended results of the social gathering began to trickle in the following morning – late morning, thankfully– and system rulership over system rulership started to send their compliments on the new course of the Empire.

They were addressed in about equal parts to Princess Organa, Lord Vader or both, leading to a quick agreement to review them together – and that, curiously enough, ended up with a surplus of Alliance personnel around the table.

Not everyone who had accompanied the princess to the party also joined the group for this meeting[1], but since Lord Vader had pared down his accompaniment to Gen Ashen and a pair each of the ubiquitous Red Guards and stormtroopers, Leia's unconventional but effective entourage still outnumbered the Imperials. For a conference room in the Imperial Palace, it was a slightly surreal sight.

The sheer number of messages quickly drowned out any reflections on the oddity of the audience, though.

All but a few of those addressed solely to Leia included a fervent declaration of allegiance to the renewed Empire, and a substantial portion of the messages also included an invitation to visit the respective planet or planets – to demonstrate said allegiance in situ or discuss further details of the same in person, Luke assumed. He felt a little lost among the intricacies of diplomatic parlance.

There was no mistaking one of the facts, though: One of the first invitations had been sent by the Queen of Naboo.

Leia watched the message with a smile no brighter than 'diplomatic success', and then commented, "It would be a strong signal of conciliation to those still loyal to the old regime to visit the Emperor's homeworld first. Those truly loyal to Palpatine's New Order, that is; those who simply enjoyed the power it brought them will not care, but I have no intention to cater to them, either."

She sent her brother a wry look. "It is also close enough to Tatooine, if we want to make a point about not ignoring the Outer Rim anymore."

The whole room creaked. After a moment, the young Jedi realized that the actual noise was black leather gauntlets straining across metal fists, while the impression of a more massive distortion was solely Luke's memory-reaction to the black flames flaring violently.

Tense silence ruled for a few seconds longer. But just before his sister went from queryingly raised eyebrow to actual questions, the mood shifted again and the vocoder rumbled, "I once swore to return to Tatooine and free all the slaves there. It is about time I made good of the promise."

Most of the occupants of the room had no idea what the Sithlord was talking about; however, with a hunt for slavers being a declared objective of the Imperial Forces already, the unexpected remark caused no more than a mild curiosity. Leia raised a second eyebrow but was kept from asking questions by Han's sudden attack of coughing.

She ran a suspicious look from father to lover to brother, a look that promised pointed questions in the near future, but then returned to reviewing the messages.

Oo oo oo oo oo oO

Not every message was a pleasant one, though. Nor a pre-recorded diplomatic note, for that matter.

They had made it through a few hours' worth of messages when Lord Vader suddenly held up a quelling hand and announced, "A man who identifies himself as Bel Iblis wishes to speak to you, Princess Organa."

"Garm Bel Iblis? How ….? Not important." His sister was not as happy to hear from this man as she had been on meeting other acquaintances from her past, Luke noted, but she seemed intrigued by the surprise call nonetheless. "In that case, Lord Vader, I wish to speak to him, too."

Their father was … hard to read on the issue. But still, he inclined his head in assent.

It was a matter of seconds to guide Leia to a specific point at the table that would serve as the transmitting part of a communication platform, and then another minute to set up the signal, bounced through the Valiant. A hologram took shape in the middle of the table, to show a tall man with leonine features and dark hair graying at the temples.

"Leia Organa," he said, scowling at the named woman from under heavy brows for a few seconds. "What would your father have thought of the company you keep these days."

Black and pale flames flared in unison. Both Sithlord and princess made half a step forward before catching themselves. The reaction was so perfectly matched that, the young Jedi suspected, the only reason why it didn't send ripples of recognition through the entire room was that most of the Alliance group had done the same behind Leia.

"As you are not him, Senator Bel Iblis, that is none of your concern," the princess said icily, then settled her stance and sent the hologram a cool, even look. "Is there anything else you wished to discuss?"

The man returned the scrutiny with shrewd consideration. "Whose game are you playing, girl, Mothma's or Vader's?"

"When I was fifteen," Leia threw back coldly, "certain people had the privilege of calling me 'girl' because I knew they meant it, ultimately, as a term of endearment. You, Senator, were not among them. I am past twenty now and most assuredly not in the mood for games anymore; so, we will either have a conversation among adults, or you can go and find someone else who appreciates your condescension. What will it be?"

Bel Iblis smiled thinly – it did not reach his eyes. "Very well, Princess Organa. You gave a pretty speech above Uviuy Exen two days ago. How much of that are you prepared to stand behind if someone calls your bluff? If someone does choose to make their own decisions?"

"All of it, naturally." Leia didn't bother with a politic smile, but she did bare her teeth when she said, "Including the part about hearing the voice of the citizens of the sector, not just one man's. Are you speaking for a majority of the Corellian sector, Senator Bel Iblis?"

The older man narrowed his eyes at that but then nodded decisively. "I do. I was approached from many sides in this."

Luke wished he knew more about Bel Iblis than that he'd been a founding member of the Alliance, but had left again, some time around Yavin, to fight his own war against the Empire. Specifically, the young Jedi wondered which 'sides' would know to approach the man and why. Something was niggling at him about that last sentence ….

His sister seemed to have similar misgivings, judging by the way her eyes narrowed momentarily before she asked, coolly, "Indeed? And what has Corellia chosen, then?"

"To insist on our ancient rights," the old senator-turned-rebel-leader gave back cryptically.

Leia frowned deeply at that, but she seemed to know what he was talking about. "Contemplanys Hermi, I assume? Very well. I will need a more public decision by the Corellian people – your last vote into office as a representative is a little out of date, Senator – but if that is the consensus, an informed consensus ..."

"… you would accept it, Princess?" Bel Iblis gave another thin smile. "And what about the one with the actual power to send fleets or withdraw them? What will Lord Vader say to your acceptance?"

Leia's return smile was razor-edged. She held out her hand invitingly, and, after a split-second of pure wonder at the familial acceptance she radiated behind her diplomatic mask, her father stepped more fully into the range of the communication platform, backing her up in the most literal sense.

"Senator Bel Iblis," the mechanic baritone rumbled, and the temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees at the tone. "I must assume that you have never met Princess Organa in person. For if you had, and you were still regarding her as one to make empty promises, I would not consider you competent enough to make decisions on behalf of a whole sector."

The Corellian senator had barely opened his mouth in indignation at the rebuke, when Lord Vader went on, tone still dripping with disdain, "But be that as it may. You have come to withdraw Corellia from the galaxy – again? So be it. Corellia may enter "meditative solitude", if it so wishes."

The obsidian helmet inclined minutely in assent, before the Sithlord resumed his glower at the projected man in front of them.

"But make no mistake, Senator," Lord Vader continued, and there was something predatory hiding behind the mask now, Luke noted, even if the vocoder had returned to a cool, level tone. "This time, not only will the troubles of the galaxy be kept from Corellia, but the troubles of Corellia will be kept from the galaxy! All Imperial forces will be withdrawn from the sector and they will stay outside it. You may keep your pirates, but they will no longer trouble anyone outside the sector."

It was hard to judge skin tones in blue see-through, but the young Jedi was reasonably certain that Bel Iblis was gaining color. "A blockade?! That is …"

"No blockade," the Sithlord cut him off implacably. "Merely patrols, strong enough to deter the lawless and keep honest traders safe. Patrols that will not pass the sector limits, nor will the safety provided reach any further. Only if requested, will they lead ships towards less hazardous routes."

"Less hazardous!" the Corellian spat. "CorSec is the best planetary security force in the galaxy!"

"Indeed," Lord Vader gave back coldly. "Corellia is rich enough to afford strong defenses – strong enough to allow for an attitude of laissez-faire in the outer reaches of the sector and still keep its central planets safe and happy.

Safe and happy because the price for that attitude is paid elsewhere, because the droves of pirates and smugglers that thrive in the periphery know better than to confront CorSec directly when there is so much easier prey to be found all around. Rich because a substantial fraction of the loot flows back, well laundered, into Coronet."

The ventilator hissed, and the vocoder seemed to sharpen its tone to match. "Corellia has lived very well that way for millennia!"

Han was grinding his teeth but not, Luke noticed with a bad feeling crawling up his spine, refuting the accusations. Wedge looked ... poleaxed.

Pirates killed his family, the young Jedi knew, pirates the famed and infamous Corellian attitude of 'live and let live' had allowed to grow unchecked?!

"Before we lose ourselves in the minutia," Leia's cool voice cut through the mounting tensions, "let us find out first if this is truly the will of the entire Corellian sector. As I said, I will need an informed decision by all of its people before any further steps can be taken – in either direction."

The princess bared teeth again. "As you have the ear of 'many sides' of the sector, Senator, I am sure you will spread the word widely. And I will do the same."

A regal nod, and then Leia cut off the connection before Bel Iblis had any chance to reply.

Then she took a deep breath, and turned towards the Alliance group behind her.

"Starting right in this room," she said, eyes seeking out Han, Wedge, Jix and Madine in turn. "Gentlemen, I do not need an answer now, but your opinions will definitely be among the first I will consider on this topic."

The last in line was the first to react.

"I should recuse myself on reasons of bias, Your Highness," Madine drawled – and Kriff, Luke had not even realized the man was from Corellia, too, his accent usually being so utterly nondescript – "I joined the Imperial Forces after all, to get away from the chaos back home."

While Jix muttered, "Likewise," in the background, in a rare agreement with the intelligence chief, Madine went on, "My personal opinion on the sense or senselessness of Contemplanys Hermi aside, though, the timing of Bel Iblis' demand is highly suspicious.

Half a day is a very short time for news to travel to a man as hard to catch as the old hawk, let alone via many sides. So, I must assume he was approached right after the battle at Uviuy Exen, and likely even before that, at least by some of those 'sides'.

And that," a considering look swept across the Imperial side of the meeting, but the Alliance Intelligence Chief continued regardless of their presence, "implies access to information so restricted that only a select circle of people could possibly be the source. Most of which are either in this room or positioned very close by."

Or in other words, Luke concluded with another icy trickle down his spine, either a very high-ranking Imperial was secretly a supporter of non-Alliance rebels – or some dissatisfied faction high up in the Alliance was trying to undermine Leia's position.

[1] Madine and Ackbar had exchanged little more than a speaking look before the Mon Calamari admiral had volunteered to return to the Valiant and field the sure-to-arrive-soon storm of enquiries from Alliance High Command, recruiting Lando Calrissian for additional persuasive eloquence.

A/N: Corellia is a Core World, a hub of hyperlanes– read: trade center – and keeps its own security force at a level where the Empire would rather let them have their own navy and rule themselves (as long as they pay proper taxes) than risk the attempt of forcing it back into the fold.

And yet, the sector is famous and infamous for its relaxed attitude towards the law, seems to have a major piracy problem (for a Core World!) and its main exports appear to be daredevils, fine fighting ships and strong alcohol. Sounds like the GFFA's equivalent of the Caribbean, in which the heyday of piracy and privateering never quite faded. With all the perks and drawbacks that implies ...

(Oh, and see the end of Ch. 59 for my opinion on the canonicity of Solo for the purposes of this story. ;)