The prospect didn't alarm him.
I'll be ready, thought Xizor, glancing over at the half-kneeling image of Vader. The thought of that final encounter-so long delayed, so long anticipated-made the blood pulse in his veins.
Emperor Palpatine's voice broke into Xizor's thoughts.
"Enough of this bickering." The Emperor pointed a bony finger at Xizor." Do not delude yourself that your thoughts are hidden to me. You flatter yourself if you believe that I am taken in by all your maneuvering, Xizor-or if you believe that I find no merit at all in Lord Vader's criticisms of your schemes and actions. You promised much from your plan to break up the old Bounty Hunters Guild: a seemingly endless supply of the type of servants that the Empire requires, sharp and agile mercenaries, to take the place of the dull inefficiencies with which I am afflicted." Palpatine leaned forward in his throne, fixing his cold, incisive gaze on the figure standing before him." I have had various reports come to me of the progress of your scheme against the Guild. But the outcome of that scheme appears rather. . . clouded. What say you, Prince Xizor?"
A bow of his head, then he looked back into those dead-seeming eyes." The explanation is simple enough, my lord." Xizor spread his hands apart." The campaign against the Bounty Hunters Guild is not yet complete. There still remains much to be done-"
"As there always will be," spoke Vader's holo image." These plans are doomed to ignominious failure."
The Emperor shot Vader a stern warning glance, then looked back toward Xizor." I do not recall," said Palpatine," anything you said about the scheme proceeding in stages. When you proposed it to me, you made it sound as if it were a relatively simple matter. Merely insert the well-known bounty hunter Boba Fett into the Guild, and it would then dissolve of its own accord."
"Your memory is accurate, my lord." Xizor made a nod of acknowledgment." And I confess my error now: I did not anticipate the current state of affairs with the Bounty Hunters Guild."
"Which is?"
You know already, old man. Xizor was sure of it, and that the Emperor amused himself at his expense." The Bounty Hunters Guild has not yet completely disappeared. It has broken into two rival factions, the True Guild and the Guild Reform Committee. The latter is effectively under the control of the bounty hunter Bossk, the son of the original Guild's leader Cradossk."
"I see." The Emperor's hands lay unmoving upon the throne's arms." Reports have come to me that the elder Cradossk was in fact killed by this Bossk."
"That is indeed the case, my lord."
The Emperor displayed an unpleasant smile." It sounds as if the bounty hunter Bossk is exactly the sort of creature you thought would be of greatest service to the Empire. Ruthless and ambitious, is he not?"
"Those are hereditary traits, my lord." The flaring shoulders of Xizor's robes lifted in a shrug." But it requires cunning as well to be a perfect instrument of your will."
"Cunning such as yours, I suppose."
Xizor returned the smile." I cannot deny such an evident truth."
"Just as," said the Emperor," you cannot deny that the old Bounty Hunters Guild has not dissolved into a myriad of independent agents, from which we could pick and choose as served our purposes best.
You show yourself capable of admitting your errors; why not confess as well that your scheme has been a failure? I see no great advantage in there being two guilds where there was only one before. If anything, it merely compounds our difficulties in dealing with these creatures."
"There is no failure, my lord." Xizor allowed his reply to become heated." Unforeseen difficulties arise; they are to be dealt with." He came close to saying that the Emperor himself had not anticipated the Rebellion, but checked himself in time. Why risk angering someone who possessed the power of life and death?" As I intend to deal with these."
"So we are to hear yet another grand scheme." The holo image of Darth Vader spoke with contempt." Schemes on top of excuses, covering failures. There's no end to such things with you."
"Measure your own failures, Lord Vader." There was nothing to lose in firing a retort back at the dark lord. It was impossible for Vader's malice to become any greater." I at least have the means for changing a temporary failure to lasting victory. Do you?"
Vader's holo image stood with its arms folded across its chest. Mindful of the short leash-even shorter now-that the Emperor kept him on, Vader made no reply to the taunt.
"And just what are those means, Xizor?"
He looked back toward the Emperor." They are simple enough, my lord. The Bounty Hunters Guild is not what it was; with one blow, we have cleaved it into two opposed segments, factions filled with murderous hatred for each other. Whatever pretense to brotherhood the bounty hunters may have once maintained, that sham at least has been ripped away. Now we must complete the process of fragmentation. Each individual bounty hunter must be turned against all others, in whichever faction they currently reside. They must have no interests in common, but only enmity for each other."
"That may be the goal," said the Emperor," but it is not the method. You have not answered my question, and I grow impatient. Tell me now just how you propose to shatter these two factions into their constituent atoms."
Unflinching, Xizor returned the Emperor's hard, cold gaze." By the very element that motivates these creatures, that made them decide to become bounty hunters in the first place. A powerful, galaxy-spanning force in its own right." Xizor hesitated a moment, in an intentional dramatic effect." Greed," he said." That will do it."
The Emperor's smile grew even less pleasant than before." There is a wisdom-even a certain justice-in turning a creature's own nature against itself. Much of my own rule depends upon exactly that tactic." Palpatine nodded slowly." Let me hear the precise details you have envisioned, Xizor."
That was when he knew he had won another round in this game. Even before Xizor had finished relating the plan to the Emperor, he was sure that it would be approved. He would be empowered to carry out the next step in his plans.
And as long as the Emperor thought that those plans were entirely to his benefit, and to the benefit of the Empire. . . so much the better. Soon enough, thought Xizor, he'll find out the truth. But by then, it would be too late.
"And what say you, Lord Vader?" The Emperor turned his gaze toward the holo image at the other side of the throne room." I expect that your silence does not indicate a wild enthusiasm for Prince Xizor's suggested plan."
"You know my thoughts, my lord." Vader's image stood stiff and inflexible." I see no point in repeating my words. But if you wish to hear them, so be it. This scheme of Prince Xizor's, just like his previous failure, is a waste of time and energy. Your attention would be better placed elsewhere, on the true concerns of the Empire."
"Just as I expected," said Palpatine wearily." You confirm my estimate of the jealousy you bear toward any other servant of mine." The Emperor raised his hand, in a gesture directed toward Xizor." Proceed with your plans against the remnants of the Bounty Hunters Guild. But bear in mind, Xizor: failure is no longer an option for you. There is only success-or death."
Xizor bowed his head." That is as I prefer it, my lord."
The hem of his heavy robes swirled against his boots as he turned from the gaunt, ancient figure on the throne. He strode toward the high doors that led out of the room in which the galaxy's ruler sat.
All the way, and even to the vaulted corridors beyond, he was aware of Vader's gaze at his back, like the sharp point of a vibroblade, waiting for the chance of a fatal thrust.
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