The Wrong Side of Right 5

Time seemed to both drag and fly by all at the same time. I had no idea how such a thing was possible but it was. It had been nearly three weeks since the Emperor had left and a week since Thrawn had gone off planet in a hurry. His presence failed greatly. I had become spoiled with having him around so much. While I had made no complaint about his assignment he had known I was sad to see him leave. We had not spoken about it, after all what was there to say? It was his job, his duty and it came first above all else. I knew this but it did not make it any easier to let him go.

He had gone early in the morning, long before the sun had come up. I had lain curled up in the warmth of the bed we shared, aware of his quiet movements around the bedroom. He had woken me gently, whispering in my ear, kissing me lightly on the cheek as he made to leave. I was grateful for the dream like quality his going in the night always left. Good byes were not our forte and we didn’t make a big fuss. It was just easier this way.

I wasn’t sure what part of the galaxy he was being sent to but I knew it had something to do with Zaarin, although he had not actually said anything about it. We had been together long enough that I had learned to read him well enough and sometimes Thrawn told me more by what he didn’t say than the information he chose to give out. I wasn’t happy about this latest assignment. I did not think there was a single man who hated Thrawn more than Demetrius Zaarin. I wasn’t certain exactly how Thrawn felt about the Grand Admiral. He wasn’t a man to lay his feelings out in the open but I was reasonable sure the feelings Thrawn did have did not run towards the side of being friends. My last words to him before he had slipped out of the bedroom had simply been ‘Be careful.’

‘Always, tekari, always.’ Had been his soft reply.

Lord Vader concerned himself with the daily business of being on Coruscant without the Emperor’s presence. He was restless and easily irritated. I stayed out of his way as much as I was able to and ducked when I had to. The only thing that seemed to cheer him up was news that came from the investigator I had hired for him. What the nature of that news had been Lord Vader never said but after the dour faced investigator had left, the mood had eased considerably. I for one was grateful because I had just about all the Vader bad temper I could deal with.

For the most part Coruscant was its usual bustling self. The day to day business of palace intrigue and courtier life made life less dull and the gossip columns ran wild with speculation about Xizor and his new love. I might have shown more interest in what he was doing had I actually cared but Prince Xizor was someone I hoped would vanish off the face of the planet or better yet the universe. He was more often than not the cause Lord Vader’s foul moods and thus also mine. It astounded me how much this one man upset Lord Vader. Even worse was the fact that Lord Vader allowed this to happen. I spent my days divided between working from my palace office and working from Lord Vader’s home. It didn’t really matter where I worked, Lord Vader’s mood didn’t change. Life at the Imperial Palace went on as usual until the day Prince Xizor’s luck suddenly changed.

I was working from my office in the Palace, in the middle of answering a letter when a large resounding boom shattered the peace and quiet. It wasn’t unusual to hear such sounds as kids, joy riding low in their parent’s ships would skim the atmosphere at supersonic speeds, causing sonic booms to happen. The booms rattled windows and annoyed the people who lived in the upper parts of the city but were for the most part harmless. I didn’t think much about them to tell the truth but that changed when ten minutes later Shiv burst into the office nearly giving me a heart attack in the process.

“Damn it Shiv, why can’t you knock like everyone else!” I hissed irritated. “You scared the sandjiggers out of me!”

He completely ignored me, bounced over to the holo caster and turned it on. “You have to see what’s happening!” he said. “You’ll never believe it!”

I sighed as the News Net flickered on. I was about to tell Shiv I didn’t have time for this when I suddenly understood why he was in such a fluster.

The holo vid showed scenes of massive destruction and chaos. Black smoke billowed into the air and people were running around like confused eopies during a mass stampede. At first I wasn’t sure where this was being filmed but then it dawned on me I knew the area well, because it was very close to where Lord Vader’s castle was and not that far away from here.

“Almighty sarlacc, what the hell happened?” I asked, still staring at the images being shown. The palace Prince Xizor had called home had exploded. The area was a wreck, a lot of people had been killed and even more injured. The city was in an uproar. The last time something of this nature had happened, so the reporter said, was during the Clone Wars. There was an area wide lock down and people were being to be advised to stay home.

Shiv shook his head. “No idea.” He said. “I was watching the morning show when they broke in with a special announcement that there had been a massive explosion. It’s only now coming through that it is Xizor’s place.” He looked at me then sat down. “You don’t suppose that Vader did this do you?” He asked very quietly.

I shook my head. “Not his style.” I said. The images shown of the area where Xizor had once lived were beyond recognition. It must have been some explosion and then I remembered the large boom I had felt and heard

Shiv laughed. “He has a style?”

“Yep, that sneaky force choke you to death thing, definitely his style. He wouldn’t kill Xizor like this, too much work, too much planning.” How could I explain to Shiv that it just didn’t feel like Vader’s touch? This was something else. “Does anyone know if Xizor was in the building when it blew up? Anyone know if he is still alive?”

Shiv shrugged and we turned our attention back to the news hoping, like the rest of the planet, to hear more. While Prince Xizor was not the best loved member of the Imperial Court he was certainly one of the most prominent, his death would set the whole court buzzing. I wasn’t sure how the Royal court or the planet would react if it was discovered he was dead. Even worse I wasn’t sure how Lord Vader would react if it was discovered that he was still alive. For a moment I contemplated trying to get in touch with him at his home to tell him but I was certain he already knew. He had enough people spying on Xizor he didn’t need me for that and besides if he hadn’t been told he had certainly felt the blast.

The rest of the day passed in a bit of a blur. The HoloNet had gone mad with news casts, speculation and misinformation. Shiv and I ordered food in and spent the last of the afternoon glued to the holo screen. When I went home it was earlier than usual, to an empty flat. My head was still reeling from the news and when I switched on the holonet, the news was still stuck on the same subject. I sighed as I sat in the living room eating left over lunch and drinking a glass of nice wine. I had tried to reach Lord Vader before I had left the office but he had suddenly gone off planet. I suspected it had something to do with the whole Xizor affair but the man I spoke to was not terribly forthcoming about any information and I wasn’t really in the mood to care or push. I figured that I would eventually learn what I needed to, so I sat and just watched the news.

I suppose it should not have come as a surprise that what ever was going on with Xizor was not over yet. Once the initial fervour of reporting had died down and some semblance of normalcy returned to the programming, I curled up on the couch and watched a re-run of Wild Banthas. It was a very bad show about settlers trying to make a living on Tatooine when a special new bulletin broke into the show alleviating my tedium. I was suddenly wide awake.

-We interrupt this programme to bring you this special bulletin. We have just received word that Prince Xizor’s skyhook has been destroyed. There has been no official word yet if the Prince was on board his Skyhook but it is believed he may have been as his ship, The Virago, was seen in the immediate area. It is not know at this time if the persons responsible for this are the same as the group believed to be responsible for the destruction of Prince Xizor’s Coruscant home which was destroyed earlier today in a massive explosion. Coruscant Fire Patrol has issued a statement, that there is no danger from falling debris but people in the area are being told to stay indoors for their own safety... –

The reporter continued but I stopped listening. It was two in the morning but I called Shiv anyway. He wasn’t asleep.

“Are you seeing the news?” I asked before he had a chance to say anything.

“What the heck is going on?” He asked.

I shook my head. “I wish I knew.” I answered.

“Do you think he’s dead?” Shiv asked.

“I have no idea but he’d be lucky to survive two explosions in one day wouldn’t he?”

Shiv just nodded glumly. “This planet is going to hell!” he said a bit crossly.

“I don’t disagree.” I said as my work comm peeped. “I gotta go, see you tomorrow.” And I disconnected.

I answered my comm and the shimmering image of Lord Vader appeared on the holo emitter.

“Lord Vader, what can I do for you?”

“I take you have seen the news?” He growled.

“I have.”

“When is the Emperor expected to return?”

I dug out my datapad and looked up the date. “In three days, my lord, depending on his whim.” Lord Vader already knew this but I suspect he mostly wanted to gloat over Xizor’s misfortune. I had to ask. “Is the Prince dead?”

“I hope so, for his sake!” Lord Vader’s reply was terse but satisfied.

I had no idea how to answer this but I couldn’t say I would be sorry if it turned out that Xizor really was dead. He was a giant pain in the ass. “What can I do for you milord?” I asked again, knowing he had not gotten in touch with me simply to talk about Xizor.

“Cancel all my appointments for the next two weeks!” He said.

“Yes, my lord, is there anything else?”

“No. I shall advise you of any further changes tomorrow. You will work from my residence, do not be tardy!” He said and disconnected.

I sighed as I sat back on the couch. What a fun day tomorrow was going to be, I thought and with that I decided I should probably get some sleep.

The next day I went to work prepared to deal with Lord Vader’s general ire only to be pleasantly surprised, he was actually more or less cheerful.

When I asked what had happened with Xizor I did not really expect an answer but he told me all that he knew. It was quite a tale and I sat at my desk, my cold hands cupped around my mug of stimcaf listening while he recounted everything he knew.

It seemed that he had been right all along and Prince Xizor’s reasons for trying to worm his way into the upper echelons of the Imperial court were not just for personal gain and power but also for revenge. Many years ago Lord Vader had been involved in a project on the Falleen home world that deal with biological weapons. There had been an accident in one of the labs causing the release of a flesh eating bacterial toxin. In order to contain this outbreak Lord Vader had ordered the area destroyed. The city which had been included in this destruction had been home to all of Prince Xizor’s family and they had all been killed.

As Lord Vader told this story I shivered. He spoke coldly and without remorse. He had only been concerned with covering up the mess that had been made and not particularly concerned with the loss of life that resulted.

Prince Xizor had been off world at the time and had learned of the destruction too late to do anything about it so he had plotted his revenge. In order to hide his true identity he had had all records of his family wiped out and created for himself a new world, a new life as the secret head of Black Sun and in the open the owner of several shipping companies among other things. He had gained favour at the Imperial court and curried a place at the Emperor’s side with his cunning and guile. If the Emperor knew of Xizor’s true past and reasons for gaining favour at court he never once gave any hint of it away.

Lord Vader had been right all along in suspecting that the Prince had ulterior motives for his integration into the Emperor’s inner circle but that it revolved around revenge was a bit of a surprise. All this had been discovered only in the last couple of weeks when the investigator I had found him had unearthed the truth. It was then that Lord Vader put two and two together and fully understood that Xizor not only meant to destroy him, take his place at the Emperor’s side but also meant to take away his family by killing his son Luke.

Vader’s voice shook with rage as he told me the last part and there was a deep sense of smug satisfaction when he told me how Xizor had truly believed right up until the last second that fear of the Emperor’s wrath would stay Vader’s hand.

I smiled grimly at these words because I knew that as I pushed Vader, Vader also knew how far he could push the Emperor and some things were worth the punishment. It had been the Executor, on Vader’s command that had obliterated the prince’s skyhook. As to who had destroyed the prince’s palatial home Vader could only speculate. I felt the pride in his words when he murmured Luke Skywalker’s name.

“The Emperor will not be happy about this when he returns, my lord.” I said cautiously when he had finished speaking.

“I will deal with that. Xizor was a menace and my master is no fool but sometimes he does not see the world as I do.” Lord Vader growled. “Xizor paid for his pride and we are better off without the likes of him cluttering up the Imperial Court.”

I could only nod. I didn’t disagree. “What about Black Sun?”

Lord Vader regarded me for a moment and I swear I could sense his slow smile from underneath his mask. “There is always a bigger fish waiting in the shadows.” He replied. “A new leader will appear, mark my words. Now, girl enough babble. I have much to do and so do you!”

And with that my work day began. I hoped that things would calm down a bit now that Xizor was out of the way but that was just wishful thinking. All bad things seem to happen in threes so when the next bit of peace shattering news interrupted daily life, I wasn’t as surprised as maybe l should have been.