Breaking Point
One Star Destroyer, no one man, will change the fate of the Empire. And that man was Grand Admiral Thrawn.
Or so Captain Parck thought. He gazed out the viewport watching the blue coronal mist of hyperspace swirl around the Imperial Star Destroyer Admonitor as it desperately raced to the Endor system. The warship had been pushing past its point four cruising speed to point four-five, and after a day of sustaining such a speed, Parck could feel a slight shudder in the hull of the ship. Reflexively, he curled his fists, saying a silent prayer to the Force that his ship wouldn't fly apart.
Grand Admiral Thrawn had emphasized the amount of time wasted fighting Nuso Esva and his allies in the last battle, even going as far as to suggest that the ambush had been staged to keep them from making it to the Death Squadron Fleet in time. He believed that the precious hours they lost could be the difference between victory and defeat at Endor. Parck didn't think much of the comment…that was until the Grand Admiral gave the order to push the Star Destroyer at point four-five. Apparently, Thrawn was serious.
He glanced at his watch. Oh-eight-hundred. Which meant…
The bridge door slid open. "Good morning, Captain," Thrawn said briskly, striding over to the Imperial Captain. "Any report from Nirauan?"
"No, sir, not yet," Parck replied. Admiral Niriz was supposed to send any information regarding the Endor battle straight to the Admonitor via hyper-comm. A battle which could very well be underway at this very moment. Or already over. Yet, Niriz had been silent so far. Either he was preoccupied with Nuso Esva, or Coruscant hadn't received any word from Endor.
Sometimes he thought the silence is the worst part of any battle.
Turnover began promptly at oh-eight-hundred. As Captain Parck watched his bridge officers change duty at their respective stations, he couldn't help but feel an eerie silence aboard the bridge. It must be the calm before the storm.
"You seemed distressed, Captain," Thrawn said. "The Endor battle I presume?"
"Yes, sir," said Parck turning to look directly at the piercing red eyes. "I was wondering if Nuso Esva was successful in delaying us from reaching Endor in time." He arched his eyebrows. "If the battle was more than an ambush that is."
"Oh, the battle was indeed a delay tactic," Thrawn said grimly. "I'm absolutely sure of it."
"Why is that, Admiral?" Parck asked.
"Because," Thrawn answered, his tone becoming more conversational, "Nuso Esva didn't plan the ambush. The attack was too swift, too foolish, and too easy to repel." He turned and faced the viewport gazing off into hyperspace. "Esva had no intention of destroying us, Captain. Therefore, we can deduce that his real reason was to keep us from reaching Endor until it was too late."
The Grand Admiral had a point. "But how did Esva know when was the right time to leave?" Parck asked. "And more importantly, how did he acquire the information that the Rebel Alliance was planning an attack on Endor? And another question. How did he figure out the timetable of the assault?"
Grand Admiral Thrawn's eyes glittered. "There are only two possibilities: either Warlord Esva has a secret connection to the Imperial Palace on Coruscant like Delta Source. Or, an Imperial tipped him off."
"An Imperial working with the enemy?" Parck gasped. "That's insane! Th-that's-"
"Treason?" Thrawn finished. "It most certainly is." He turned to look at Parck. "But I can think of no other possibility. It had to be an Imperial." He paused for a second glancing down at the floor tiles briefly. "Do you remember those Dreadnought assault carriers we faced in the Nirauan system?"
"Of course," the Captain answered. "They're old rendili-star drive dreadnoughts-" Parck paused frowning. "Like the ones we used to have in the Old Republic," he finished quietly.
"They were indeed," Thrawn confirmed. "Nuso Esva's new ally supplied him with those ships. And this someone is in the Empire."
"Could it be one of the Rebels?" Parck asked hopefully. "Perhaps they found some old Republic warships and decided to aid the warlord."
The Grand Admiral shook his head. "No, it was an Imperial. No one in the Rebel Alliance knows of our little expedition in the Unknown Regions. Only those in the upper echelons of the Empire new the coordinates of our forces."
Before the Captain could enquire any further, the navigation computer light flashed and the warning signal on the comm board pinged. "Dropping out of lightspeed," the helm officer announced "in three…two…one…mark…"
And abruptly the starlines turned back into stars as the Admonitor dropped out of hyperspace. The Star Destroyer's quiet shudder finally calmed down, which eased the Captain's mind. Until he saw what was dead ahead of the Admonitor. For a few seconds the bridge officers adjusted their vision as they got used to being back in real space. Then, the gasps and shocks of awe sounded throughout the room.
They were too late. The Admonitor had dropped out of lightspeed right in the middle of a ship graveyard. For a few moments the bridge officers and crewers stood out of their seats in ghostly silence.
"To your stations!" Captain Parck snapped. "Red alert! All hands to battle stations! All senior officers to the bridge!"
"Stand down from General Quarters," Grand Admiral Thrawn cut in, belaying Parck's order. "Surveillance and search and rescue crews, to their stations, standby to launch the recon and rescue squadrons."
"Acknowledged, Grand Admiral," Lieutenant Commander Storm, the operations officer responded.
Thrawn turned to Parck, lines of tension and stress filling the Grand Admiral's expression. "I'm afraid, Captain, that the Empire has reached its breaking point."
Gliding through the blackness of deep space, the Imperial Star Destroyer Reckless aimed its mighty arrowhead shape at the Delta System, and prepared itself for war.
"All systems show battle readiness, Admiral," the operations officer reported. "The strike group is ready to check in."
"Very well," Admiral Niriz acknowledged in his gravely, heavy voice. "Prepare to commence the operation. Captain Armand?"
"Sir?" said Armand.
"Begin the countdown," Niriz ordered.
"Yes, sir," Armand said, and walked to the quarter-size holos of the Imperial Captains at the aft bridge. "Fellow comrades, here are your launch marks. Harbinger: six minutes…"
As Captain Armand gave the launch orders, Admiral Niriz let his gaze sweep across the command floor watching the bridge crew at work, and permitted himself a tight smile. Before Grand Admiral Thrawn had returned to the main Empire, he had left behind vital information of Warlord Nuso Esva's bases and a bag full of tactical strategies to countermand the widespread offensive the alien had launched into Imperial territory. One of those bases was located on Delta Prime, a planet not too far from Nirauan. A perfect opportunity for a military strike.
Now it was up to Dagon Niriz, Thrawn's second in command, to carry out the Grand Admiral's battle plan in his absence. And the Admiral would do just that. Hopefully, when Thrawn returned from stopping the Empire's imminent demise at Endor, he would present the cunning warlord's head on a silver platter to the Grand Admiral.
The last of the Captains signaled their acknowledgement and the quarter-sized holo vanished from the hologram pod at the aft bridge. "All ships have reported in, Admiral," Captain Armand reported. "The Reckless is fully at your command."
"Very good, Captain," Niriz answered. "Begin phase one…"
The private ready room door opened, and Captain Parck stepped inside silently wondering which pieces of artwork Grand Admiral Thrawn had chosen to discover the identity of the Imperial would-be saboteur. However, to Parck's mild surprise, the room was dark and void of any decoration, though he could hear the soft violins of a musical orchestra playing in the background.
Thrawn was seated in the command chair, but as Parck stepped closer, the Captain saw that his eyes were completely shut. Was he asleep? Should he wake the Admiral to give him the report? No. He wouldn't disturb him. Parck turned and proceeded to walk out of the ready room.
"No Captain, I am not asleep," Thrawn murmured. "I am simply meditating." Parck turned back around as the Grand Admiral slowly opened his eyes. "What's the report on Endor?"
"No survivors, sir," the Captain answered. "The Imperial Fleet retreated under the orders of Captain-select Pellaeon of the Chimaera, assuming command of the fleet after the Executor's destruction."
"I thought Admiral Strage was commanding the Chimaera," said Thrawn.
Parck skimmed the report. "Yes, sir, Admiral Strage was," he confirmed, "however, he was killed in battle. Though supreme command rested with Grand Admiral Teshik, it was Pellaeon who signaled the order to retreat."
"A wise move," Thrawn commented. "Notice Captain, that this same officer is the one who took the time to type a dissenting report about the Endor battle preparations. And now, he is solely responsible for saving the remnants of the Death Squadron fleet from total annihilation."
"Most certainly," Parck agreed, shaking his head in awe. Thrawn had done it. Against all odds, the Grand Admiral had predicted the impossible. If only they had reached Endor sooner. Even with Thrawn's tactical genius, the Admonitor arrived too late to even salvage the situation. But at least Captain Pellaeon saved some of the fleet. Now all they could do was put the pieces of the puzzle back together, and hope that Thrawn's brilliance would spark again to discover the identity of the mysterious Imperial traitor.
And as if on cue, Thrawn swiveled around in his chair and pulled up the dossiers of over a half a dozen Imperial military officers and politicians. Parck could pick out a few of them simply from their images. Ysanne Isard, Grand Admiral Grant, Sate Pestage, Grand Admiral turned Grand Moff Tigellinus, Grand Moff Zsinj—
"I've compiled a list of possible suspects that may have tried to ally themselves with Warlord Nuso Esva and ambush us at Nirauan," the Grand Admiral said in his smoothly modulated voice.
Parck scanned the rest of the list, his eyes widening at the realization of the suspects. "Admiral, these are some of the most high-ranking officials in the Imperial Court. It would be impossible to narrow it down to one person. You would never have the resources to uncover the person responsible for the ambush. Let alone the evidence to convict that person in the Imperial Court."
"I know," Thrawn said grimly. "Whoever it is, that person is the one who stands the most to gain from the Emperor's death."
"I'll put Intelligence on it right away," Parck announced.
"On the contrary," the Grand Admiral cut in, "I'd rather this stay between us. We must figure this out on our own. It's too dangerous to let Imperial Intelligence in on our little investigation. We wouldn't want to prematurely flush out our quarry now would we?"
Parck swallowed visibly. He always hated politics. But, it seemed the Grand Admiral was better at it then Thrawn let on when he was in the Imperial Court. How they were going to solve this puzzle, the Captain had no idea. But it was up to him and Thrawn. "No, sir," he said at last. "I suppose not."
