Daltar decides that it's probably not best to offend the queen, so he heads to the palace, after sending messages to the duke and priestess, telling them that he's been summoned, so they don't get offended. He tells both that he'd be delighted to meet them as soon as he's free. With that done, he returns to Naboo and takes a speeder to the palace.
Katarina bring them their drinks and drink them with them. "Damit... I hoped it will be only credits what we lose... Replace broken parts is easy, but replace crew members." She drink it and sigh. "We will have to make some proper farewelc for them."
As he arrived, he was greeted by stormtrooper guards and escorted inside. There he was pointed through the corridor, to the large ballroom. But before he could enter, he was interrupted by someone. "Admiral Daltar, I presume? I am Duchess Paonga." She smiled offering her hand. "I want to tell you, that there was no slight, given your choice of parties."
"Well, well, looks like you forgot to hide your whores, Panza." Sarah sighed, "Well, what is this then?"
"Their bodies were blown up with the section of the ship." Will said, then shook his head. "It will take some serious reconstruction of the ship to return it to be something flyable."
Katarina nod to him, drinking her coffe. "We will have to buy a spare parts. That what we have is not enough."
"Well, that's odd. But, may as well try. Patch me in." Sarah said as she sits on the captain's chair properly. Once the comms were connected, "This is admiral Burtz of the imperial navy, I request to speak to your boss."
Daltar resists the urge to ogle the beauty, instead bowing to take her hand and kiss it in the traditional way. He returns the woman's smile. "I'm glad to know that I didn't cause offence, though seeing you makes me even more regretful that I was unable to accept the invitation."
Sasha winced. "Considering the damage, we might consider buying a new ship... If we will have enough money for it." Will sighted. "The repairs will cost a small fortune... and we dumped the cargo during the battle."
The hologram of the woman grins, showing off her teetch. "You are speaking to her." She answered shortly.
The woman smiles as she accepts the gesture. "Isn't it obvious, when you have to choose whose party you need to attend to, the most powerful person is usually the obvious answer. Think nothing of it." She said then had turned to the door and raised her arm, in a gesture inviting to accompany her. "Shall we?" She asked.
Katarina sigh and put head in hands. "I know, I know... there is realy bad. I regret lose of cargo, but in that moment I didn't see any other solution what lets us get away from the battle." She look at empty cup. "Let's see what we can do with things what we have and later we have to look for some work. We must earn enought money, to repair hyperspace and finish our transaction with rebels." She look at the window, into black space.
"Oh? That's interesting." Sarah replied with a grin of her own, "Well, I request that you prepare to receive me, and a few of my men. I have something to discuss about the current state of the empire, and how it'll affect you."
"Better to be alive and poor than dead." Will said. "Don't worry - that we escaped is a great thing. That star destroyer was Grand Admiral Thrawn's flagship..." Sasha said, but didn't finish. Thrawn, was somewhat of enigma - one of few high ranking non-human imperial in the Empire, that alone spoke about his skill.
The duchess accepted the hand gracefully and the two walked into the ballroom. It was extravagant. Tens of servants serving a small number of important people. As he looked at the throne, Daltar noticed the Queen, looking at him. She was frowning, looking at him with - was it anger? worry? Or was it uncertainty?
Daltar takes a note of the queen's reaction, though he doesn't express it in any way. Bowing to the duchess, he tells her he looks forward to seeing her again, before moving to the queen and taking a bow. "Your majesty. Thank you for inviting me."
'I can still breathe,' Orson groaned, 'Where did you get this thing anyway? I didn't have anything like it in here.'
