176.M41 - a decade since after the Gothic War

Spire sat opposite of the captured commander in the cold interrogation room. A steel table divided them.

Darkness enveloped the commander, concealing his form completely aside from two glaring red eyes Spire dismissed as bionics. Cigarette fumed from his nostrils and a bottle of Amasec was held in his hand.

'Your tobacco and alcohol are much like your people,' remarked the interrogatee. 'Unsubtle and utilitarian. Reflecting your Imperium's predilections for hardships and bluntness.'

Spire couldn't refrain from glancing at the captured officer's glaring red eyes, it was more flesh than machine.

'You led the unexpected ambush at my reserve fleet.' claimed Spire. 'Victory was almost near me had you not intervened.'

'Indeed,' replied the captured officer, the darkness hiding his smile. 'You were slaughtering my fleet like tender lambs in the void. Despite being outnumbered 10 to 1, your broadside cannons and lasers gutted them. I had never encountered such fury nor savagery that your Imperium displayed before.'

A frown depressed Spire's eyebrows. 'You expected me to be leading the charge.'

'That I did.' replied the captured officer, nonchalantly inspecting the cigarette given to him. 'But I never expected that you would respond so quickly. I mistook you to be a brazen fool, hungry for glory. I thought you were much like the previous captains whose own hubris undermined ships more powerful than ours. But you adapted, mounted a counterattack against my ambush and my flagship took the brunt of your battleship's torpedoes. Its destruction made my fleet lose heart and withdraw, earning you your victory.'

The captured officer stopped for a moment as his lungs inhaled another smoke from his cigarette. Plumes of it emerged from his nose. Coupled with his fiery red eyes, he bore an uncomfortable appearance of a daemon.

'Once I thought the Imperium were dogmatic, ignorant fanatics. Now, I knew them to be dogmatic, clever fanatics. Having people like you is the reason that it has survived for 10 millennia.'

The officer shot a piercing look towards Spire, he was certain that it looked more like an actual pair of eyes than bionics.

Perhaps their bionics are a lot more concealed and elegant than ours, Spire thought.

'You never underestimated me, did you?' asked the interrogatee, staring at Spire with his whole outline leaning towards him. But not closer enough to reveal his form.

Like a prowling predator this man is, reflected Spire, calm and collected.

Spire cleared his scarred throat. ' I've weathered too much horrors of my home to underestimate things.'

'You came here for information on my empire's dispositions of its forces,' the commander asked further, red eyes kicking back in a relaxed state.

'I want more than just intelligence,' exclaimed Spire, hands spread across the hard table. 'Tell me more about this galaxy's humans, its xenos natives and most of all, if there are other powers squabbling with the Galactic Empire.'

'Granted,' obliged the captive officer as he took a swig of the Amasec's bottle. 'Where do you want to start?'

Spire's eyes narrowed, like a blade focused on someone's heart. 'Tell me your name.'

The captive commander leaned closer to Spire again, much closer this time that he could see the man's full physical form. Red eyes, black hair and blue skin. He... it looked like a man, but it was no man.

Xenos, Spire observed. Teeth grinding in anger.

'Thrawn,' the alien answered, coldly smiling. 'Grand Admiral Thrawn.'