The Emperor was certainly not pleased that Thrawn deduced the size and power of the project entirely on his own, however, once Thrawn had done so, once Palpatine told him of the purpose, once Thrawn presented him an another victory against the nascent Rebellion, Palpatine couldn't resist the human urge to show him the source of his pride and amusement, inviting him to have a look at the blue prints, asking him for his personal opinion.
And while Thrawn was reading through the blue prints of the battle station that must have cost more than the ten years budget of the entire Imperial Navy, he noticed a very peculiar thing. An oversight of the designer: A thermal exhaust port leading to the reactor core, a critical error that, if left uncorrected, could potentially lead to the destruction of the whole station.
A detail so insignificant that would have gone unnoticed by anyone else.
"What is the name of the designer of the reactor core?" Thrawn calmly raised his eyes to meet the gaze of the human.
"Galen Erso," the Emperor replied with a smirk, the yellow eyes gleaming with malice.
Galen Erso. One of the most renowned polymaths in the galaxy, a gifted theoretician, mathematician, and experimental physicist, a recipient of the Kuat Systems Engineering Medal, the Ashgad Prize and the Roche Foundation Prize.
It couldn't have been a mere oversight then. It was a deliberate act of sabotage.
Whoever came up with the name for the battle station, whether it was the Emperor, Darth Vader, Grand Moff Tarkin, or even possibly Director Krennic, the person put in charge of the project, they deserved recognition. Thrawn could hardly think of a more fitting name.
Oh, the things Thrawn could do with the battle station if he had been chosen as its commander. A single blast to the heart of the enemy lines would have erased them from the face of the universe, saving billions, trillions of lives of both combatants and non-combatants.
In the wrong hands, however, a single blast could have very well erased whole planets from the face of the universe, resulting in a loss of billions, trillions of lives of both combatants and non-combatants. And it would have to be obvious even to a blind that Thrawn would never be chosen as its commander. No, the battle station would be either in the hands of the Emperor himself or in the hands of a fanatical follower of the New Order, Governor Tarkin most likely.
The Death Star.
There were things in the universe that were simply and purely evil. A warrior did not seek to understand them, or to compromise with them. He sought only to obliterate them. An indestructible battle station with a power to destroy whole planets was far too dangerous to let loose in this galaxy. It had the potential to destroy each planet, one by one, until there was nothing left but ... stardust. What a poetic code name for the project.
And it would be used. Every new weapon had to be used at least once to instill fear in the enemy or in the opposition. No, humans could not be trusted with so much firepower.
And that was the reason Thrawn decided to do something very out of character for him, something he had never done before, something that would ultimately hinder all his schemes in the long run; he scrolled down, leaving the uncorrected error to be exploited by the Rebellion.
"Galen Erso is a man of many talents."
Thrawn nodded in acknowledgment to the great scientist. It was so artistically done. "I can only repeat the words of wisdom you have said, my Emperor, once the Death Star is fully operational, its very existence will suppress all opposition. A weapon of mass destruction. It has an appropriate name."
Thrawn stated the facts without revealing the truth.
It was apparent that the Emperor was satisfied with his evaluation, dismissing him from the throne room, leaving him wander through the Imperial Palace on his own. As Thrawn walked through the hallways that had once been the Great Jedi Temple, his mind went back to the fateful battle of Atollon, to the words he had exchanged with the traitorous ISB Agent.
No, Thrawn didn't have the heart of a Rebel, he had a heart of a Chiss warrior. Thrawn and Kallus were certainly nothing alike; Kallus believed he was doing the morally right thing, Thrawn believed he was doing the necessary thing, there was a significant difference between the two.
Thrawn let out a deep contemplative sigh. If the Rebellion couldn't eliminate the threat the battle station posed not only to his own people but to the whole galaxy before it became fully operational, leading to an unnecessary loss of lives on all sides, then he would end up in one of the Nine Hells of Corellia right alongside of the Emperor Palpatine.
Fool me once, shame on you, went the human saying. The Outbound Flight.
Fool me twice, shame on me, the saying continued. The Battle of Batonn.
Fool me thrice?
The white uniform, and the power he needed to protect the ones who depended on him, came at a terrible price. His brother would not have approved of his decisions. But then, Thrass was dead.
Thrawn cared only about the results, not about the means to an end. For the things to come, he needed the Emperor as much as the Emperor needed him, therefore he would put an end to the Rebellion for Palpatine, but not before they outlived their usefulness. Ultimately, it did not matter who was the morally wrong and who was the morally right. The Rebellion could not be allowed to persist in the long run, no matter how noble their intentions might be.
Their military abilities were undeniable, but their chances for long-term stability were nonexistent. Multiple species with multiple viewpoints and racial philosophies simply could not hold military power together. The dominant voice certainly had to be wise enough to adopt ideas and methods from its allies and member peoples. But there had to be a dominant voice, or there was only chaos. As the Republic had aptly demonstrated in the past.
In this part of the galaxy, that voice was the Empire.
He shook his head and in a voice too low for human ears to hear he started singing a song he had found among personal possessions of Agent Kallus; he had kept them all for safe keeping, just like he had kept Captain Syndulla's kalikori for the same reason.
Thrawn had always believed that all thoughts were worth listening to, whether later judged to be of value or not. To defeat his enemies he had to understand them, to study their history, their philosophy, their art. It applied to their music as well.
.
I spoke to God today,
and she said that she's ashamed.
What have I become, what have I done?
.
I spoke to the Devil today,
and he swears he's not to blame.
And I understood, cause I feel the same.
.
Arms wide open, I stand alone.
I'm no hero, and I'm not made of stone.
Right or wrong, I can hardly tell.
I'm on the wrong side of heaven,
and the righteous side of hell.
.
I heard from God today,
and she sounded just like me.
What have I done,
and who have I become.
.
I saw the Devil today,
and he looked a lot like me.
I looked away, I turned away!
.
Arms wide open, I stand alone.
I'm no hero, and I'm not made of stone.
Right or wrong, I can hardly tell.
I'm on the wrong side of heaven,
and the righteous side of hell.
.
I'm not defending, downward descending,
Falling further and further away!
Getting closer every day!
I'm getting closer every day, to the end.
To the end, the end, the end,
I'm getting closer every day!
.
Arms wide open, I stand alone.
I'm no hero, and I'm not made of stone.
Right or wrong, I can hardly tell.
I'm on the wrong side of heaven,
and the righteous side of hell.
.
The wrong side of heaven,
and the righteous side of hell.
.
THE END
.
Song disclaimer: "Wrong Side Of Heaven" by Five Finger Death Punch