Aldera, Alderaan. 5 BBY.

The greeting to the planet's capital was warm and welcoming, nothing less than any of the members of Crimson Dawn had expected. The only thing that was out of place was the Queen was not present during the welcoming, they were later informed she would not be attending at all.

Qi'ra stared at the young girl who stood in her mother's place, she did not think much of the girl; she was only a child, maybe fifteen at the most.

The man she recognized as the Viceroy and the King Consort steps forward and extended his hand out to her. She took it and curtsied before him.

"Welcome." He greeted, as it was customary for the royal members to speak first.

"Viceroy Organa." Qi'ra responded as she straightens herself. "I appreciate you seeing us on such short notice."

"Think nothing of it. We were pleased to receive you."

"I am relieved to hear that." Qi'ras eyes wandered to the young girl who stood beside the Viceroy.

"Ah. May I introduce my daughter, Princess Leia of Alderaan."

"Of course, your highness." As Qi'ra is about to curtsy again, the young Princess stopped her.

"Please, no need for pleasantries. My father and I are pleased to receive you as you requested. Now I believe there was something you wished to discuss with us, lets begin shall we." Leia states, the Viceroy chuckles and places his hands on the young girl's shoulders.

"Please excuse my daughter. She is rather…passionate."

"A trait she gets from her father I presume."

"Her mother actually. Please come this way." Bail removed his hand from Leia's shoulder to direct the way. Qi'ra hesitantly moved, but is at ease when Bail moves with her at the same pace.

"I would like to allow you to settle however, due to some previous engagements I unfortunately have to set course for Courusant tonight."

"Of course, you are rather busy. I admit I know our request was rather…abrupt and intrusive."

"Abrupt yes, intrusive of course not. The House of Organa is always pleased to receive guests. Especially from Crimson Dawn, Dryden Vos was always most generous to my wi-The Queen."

"Of course, Alderaan was always one of Vos' favorite planets to be on."

"You mean his favorite planet to exploit his wealth on." The Princess speaks up, Qi'ra turns her head to look at the girl. She was beginning to think the princess was much sharper than she appeared to be. The Viceroy goes silent, not correcting the girl, but holding in a smile.

They enter the room, Qi'ra resists the urge to sit before the Viceroy, but is taken a back when the Viceroy waits to sit. He does not sit until the Princess sits. Qi'ra finally sits, in a chair further removed from the rest. The doors close, shutting out the men who accompanied Qi'ra.

"We will make sure your men are well taken care of." Bail reassured the woman, as he noticed her distress. "Can we get you anything? Perhaps some wine?"

"No, I appreciate the gesture."

"As the leader of Crimson Dawn, I understand this meeting to be one of negotiation. What is it you've come to propose?" Leia asks, wanting this meeting to be finished as fast as possible. Qi'ra looks from the Viceroy to the Princess, almost at a loss of words at the girl's brashness.

Qi'ra took a breath to re compose herself, she was not considering the Princess to be as intimidating as she seemed to be.

"As you know the Empire has severely limited which planets the crime syndicates can rule, we are only allowed access to the outer rim planets, where the empire rarely has a presence. As resistance groups grow on these planets we find we are being pushed out by these rebels. As many know, Alderaan is not the most sympathetic to the Empire."

"What is it that your proposing?" Leia asked.

"Protection, Princess. Crimson Dawn is offering Alderaan protection from the Empire."

"And what is it your wanting in return?"

"As we are being pushed out of these planets, Crimson Dawn is noticing a significant decrease in resources. Those that allow us to continue our exploration have no resources to yield and those who do, well…we are not the most welcome on those planets."

"So in exchange of your protection, you want our resources?"

"Yes, we want access to your water ways, the ability to mine in your mountains and in return you will have our protection." Qi'ra stares intently at the princess, as if to solidify her promise.

Leia stood from her chair, and made her way to the large window which overlooked the capital. She stayed silent for a while, pondering what the woman had said. She turned to face her father and the woman, Leia's palms lingered on the window sill.

"I've been instructed by my mother to do what is right for our people."

"We will help your people." Qi'ra adds.

"Of course." Leia stepped away from the window. "As you helped the Savarian people, cutting out their tongues when they tried to rebel."

"That was under Dryden Vos, not me."

"You both work for the same boss no? And what of the Twi'lek people of Ryloth?"

"What of them?"

"The exportation of slaves, particularly of females has increase since the rise of the Empire."

"That has nothing to do with us. The Empire is continuously exporting those slaves." Qi'ra defended, her teeth going on edge.

"And who is buying them? The Hutts? Crimson Dawn has been proven to purchase and support the slave trade. And what of the Alderaanian people, once you've raped Alderaan of her resources you will turn to exporting and exploiting our people." Leia takes a deep breath, staring intently at the woman. "Alderaan's answer is no. We will not accept your terms. Good day."

Leia pulled away from the room, leaving for the gardens. Qi'ra sat in silence, hoping for the Viceroy to speak up.

"I'm sorry things did not occur the way you would've liked them to. I shall see you out." Viceroy stood, as does Qi'ra. The two are silent as they walked back to the landing pad. Qi'ra faced the Viceroy as they reach her ship.

"Thank you for receiving me once again Viceroy."

"Of course. I hope you have a safe flight back."

"Thank you." Qi'ra looked over to the gardens, in the distant she saw the young Princess staring in their direction. "You have quite the future monarch."

"That we do. She may come off as brash, even cold…however she has other's in her mind always."

"I gathered." Qi'ra manages to tear her gaze off the young girl. She thanked the Viceroy once more before getting on her ship.

She smirked, thinking about the young Princess, knowing she would one day keep a young man on his toes.

…

It was four years later when Qi'ra heard the news. She sat in her office on the yacht when her page barged through the door and gave her the news. Alderaan was gone. The royal family was all presumed to be dead.

"Pity…she had so much potential." Qi'ra stated before waving her servant away. She felt pity for the people of Alderaan, however their demise was not on her hands.

Author's Note:

I'll probably will do a follow up to this.

I'll be posting a new chapter of "When it's all over soon."