Star Wars - Darth Plagueis

that, an internal churning that required Mara to spend hours and tremendous Force energy merely holding it in check. But that was Mara’s business.
    “I hope to meet with Nom Anor tomorrow,” Leia explained, as the three, with C-3PO and Bolpuhr in tow, headed for the lower hatch, then moved down to the landing bay. A contingent of New Republic Honor Guard stood waiting there, along with Commander Ackdool, a Mon Calamarian with large, probing eyes, a fishlike face, and salmon-colored skin. “By all reports, we should all be rested before dealing with him.”
    “Believe those reports,” Mara said.
    “And first, it seems I get to meet with our savior Jedi,” Leiaadded dryly, looking back behind the Jade Sabre to see the X-wing gliding in to rest.
    “Wurth Skidder,” Jaina remarked, recognizing the markings under the canopy on the starfighter.
    “Why am I not surprised?” Leia asked, and she blew a sigh.
    Ackdool came over to them, then, and extended his formal greetings to the distinguished guests, but Leia’s reaction set him back on his heels—indeed, it raised more than a few eyebrows among the members of the Mediator ’s Honor Guard.
    “Why did you send him out?” Leia snapped, motioning toward the docking X-wing.
    Commander Ackdool started to answer, but Leia continued. “If we had needed assistance, we would have called for it.”
    “Of course, Princess Leia,” Commander Ackdool said with a polite bow.
    “They why send him out?”
    “Why do you assume that Wurth Skidder flew out at my command?” the cool Commander Ackdool dared to respond. “Why would you assume that Wurth Skidder heeds any order I might give?”
    “Couple o’ ridge-head parachutes floating over Osarian, if those Rodians had any luck,” came the singsong voice of Wurth Skidder. The cocky young man was fast approaching, pulling off his helmet and giving his shock of blond hair a tousle as he walked.
    Leia stepped out to intercept him and took another quick step for no better reason than to make the Jedi stop short. “Wurth Skidder,” she said.
    “Princess,” the man replied with a bow.
    “Did you have a little fun out there?”
    “More than a little,” the Jedi said with a wide grin and a sniffle—and he always seemed to be sniffling, and his hair always looked as if he had just walked in from a Tatooine sandstorm. “Fun for me, I mean, and not for the Rodians.”
    “And the cost of your fun?” Leia asked.
    That took the smile from Wurth Skidder’s face, and he looked at Leia curiously, obviously not understanding.
    “The cost,” Leia explained. “What did your little excursion cost?”
    “A couple of proton torpedos,” Wurth replied with a shrug. “A little fuel.”
    “And a year of diplomatic missions to calm down the Osarians,” Leia retorted.
    “But they shot first,” Wurth protested.
    “Do you even understand that your stupidity likely escalated an already impossible situation?” Leia’s voice was as firm and cold as anyone present had ever heard it. So cold, in fact, that the always overprotective Bolpuhr, fearing trouble, glided closer to her, hanging back just behind her left shoulder, within fast striking distance of the Jedi.
    “They were attacking you,” Wurth Skidder retorted. “Six of them!”
    “They were trying to bring us down to Osarian,” Leia harshly explained. “A not-so-unexpected response, given my announced intentions here. And so we planned to avoid them. Avoid! Do you understand that word?”
    Wurth Skidder said nothing.
    “Avoid them and thus cause no further problems or hard feelings,” Leia went on. “And so we would have, and we would have asked for no explanations from Shunta Osarian Dharrg, all of us pretending that nothing had ever happened.”
    “But—”
    “And our graciousness in not mentioning this unfortunate incident would have bought me the bargaining capital I need to bring some kind of conciliation from Osarian toward Rhommamool,” Leia continued, anger creeping in thicker with each word. “But now we can’t do that, can we? Now, so that Wurth Skidder could paint another skull on the side of his X-wing, I’ll have to deal with an incident.”
    “They shot first,” Wurth Skidder reiterated when it became apparent that Leia was done.
    “And better that they had shot last,” Leia replied. “And if Shunta Osarian Dharrg demands reparations, we’ll agree, with all apologies, and any monies to be paid will come from Wurth Skidder’s private