The bridge was a hum of activity as Thjion shadowed Captain Pallaeon. It was a quiet day and there was not much that required the captain's attention. Drills had already been run and the coordination details of the upcoming battles were taken care of. The hyperspace jump would be made shortly, but that was an easy process. Overall, Thjion was rather bored. He was a fast learner and he had a fairly good grasp on what a captain did. He had come to the conclusion that all military systems had the same systems. This navy was the same as the Republic's, and was quite similar to the CEDF with just different names and a few minor details. To say the least, he would rather be with Thrawn discussing some painting, mental limitations of various species, or their pasts. However, he knew that he needed the experience just in case this was to be his future, and Pallaeon was fairly good company, a tad removed and formal, but pleasant enough. He also made for good conversation. The other day they had gotten stuck in a repulsorlift for about half an hour and had had a pleasant chat about Smash and its core counterpart, Table Ball. It turned out the Captain was quite an enthusiast. However, it was quite bad to have the captain of a ship trapped in a repulsorlift so their conversation had been cut short.

Now, however, Thjion was going to make sure that their conversation today was not interrupted; he had questions that needed to be asked. Despite the Admiral's warm feelings towards him, the truth of the matter was that he had been severely betrayed by his family, and Thrawn was not totally open about personal information and was actually reserved most of the time, as if he were compensating for the emotion he had shown lately. Plus, there were things Thrawn could not tell him about himself, so he was going to question Pallaeon. Thrawn was in a holomeeting with the Grand Moffs and from the foul mood he had appeared to be in, it was clear that he would not be out until late. He would be wound up and would not be the best of company. The signal came in for Pallaeon to make the jump and within the minute, the stars faded into the blue lines of hyperspace. The captain sighed and turned bridge command over as his shift ended.

"You may go now Commander," he dismissed his student. Thjion nodded in acknowledgement, but did not leave.

"I've told you before to call me Thjion, I am not Commander. My rank more closely resembles that of a Lieutenant," he corrected with a sigh.

"I know," Gilad conceded, "but I was ordered by the Admiral to address you as such, and I am not about to go back on one of his orders." Thjion gave the smallest of smiles. This was the window he had been waiting for, and he pounced.

"Are you afraid of my brother, Captain?" he asked in a mischievous tone. The captain glanced about to see if anyone had such a comment. He was a proud man and while he would admit his faults, admitting that he was afraid of his superior officer was not something he did lightly. He lead Thjion into a more secluded area of the corridor before speaking.

"I am not afraid of Grand Admiral. He can be intimidating at times, but he is an honorable man and I am lucky to serve under him, so I am not about to displease him by going back on something barely more than a favor," Pallaeon told him stiffly. Thjion raised his eyebrow in that questioning look he had picked up from Thrawn.

"Care to explain that statement further Captain? It was quite loaded," he continued. Pallaeon sighed and looked up at he ceiling for a moment.

"You had this planned out, didn't you?" he questioned back. The older man swore that he would never underestimate alien intelligence after this battle was over. It was apparent now that the Grand Admiral was not simply an anomaly, but probably hardly above average amongst his own people. Unless of course his family was just extraordinarily intelligent... what he heck, he was not going to risk being outsmarted again. Thjion laughed slightly.

"More or less, we were going to talk no matter what, you just made it a bit easier for me," he answered. "I was fully prepared to tie you up and hold you hostage until you answered my questions. I'm glad it did not come to that." Then again, stupidity can be misinterpreted as intelligence. He had yet to figure this boy out, something the two chiss had in common. Pallaeon would never figure them out.

"Very well then, what do you wish to know?" he gave in. If there was one thing he knew for sure, this species did not joke so if Thjion said he would tie him up, then he would. Thjion clapped him on the shoulder and began leading him back to his room.

"Things you probably would rather not say in the open. Come back with me, we'll have a drink while we talk," Thjion told him. He glanced over to see Pallaeon looking rather uncomfortable. "Oh ease up Gilad, I was joking about taking you hostage. Really, I am not incapable of humor despite the cold front we put up. Thrawn can be just like Dad at times. Always formal and rather the mood killer, shame." Pallaeon's mouth formed a straight line as he was, once again, proven wrong about how much he knew about the universe.

--

The mood in the board room of the New Republic Council was grave and tense. The stress had become a living thing and was infecting every space available. Mon Mothma, Leia Solo, and Borsk Fey'lea though were by far more uneasy than the other occupants. A few more people filtered then the silence indicated that it was time to begin. As Mon Mothma stood, Leia felt a comforting Force nudge come from Luke as he gave her a half smile. He had been readmitted into the military due to the bitter retaliation the Empire would now inflict upon them. She attempted to smile back, but it was looked like a painful grimace than anything else. She turned to focus on what Mon was saying, knowing that it would be best to be aware of what was going on.

"Several months ago, Senator Organa Solo was contacted by a representative of the Chiss Ascendancy, a foreign government in the Unknown Regions. The representative, a Lt. Thjion according to transitional ranks, came here in order to search for a relative of his in order to further assist his world in a viscous battle. Unfortunately, that relative happened to be none other than Grand Admiral Thrawn. The senator came to myself and Senator Fey'lea for assistance and it was deemed that we would not reveal the identity of our enemy as this information could have led to an alliance between the Empire and the Ascendancy, a chance we did not want to risk. Upon further discussion, I encouraged him to help us with our mission and he began searching to find a pattern in the Imperial attacks. This eventually led to an unofficial commission with Admiral Ackbar, and has been the secret to our success these last four months. However, I was just informed that Lt, along with fourteen other X-wing fighters, has been captured and is being held aboard the Chimaera." She paused to let this information sink in. From the strengthening of the tension, people fully understood. She took a deep breath and continued. "While I would like to believe that we will not be betrayed, the truth of matter is, our security is in jeopardy. We need to move quickly to end this war. That is why I propose we commit 100 percent of our military force to an offensive battle." Normally, this would have been something the council would have fought about, but the situation was dire. Nods and murmurs of agreement met this statement. "Very well then, the please give your attention to Admiral Ackbar as he has had some thoughts about the issue."

The attention shifted and the Republic leader sat back down with a hefty sigh. This had been a difficult time for her, as it had been her decision to let hide The Grand Admiral's identity from Thjion. Leia had tried to warn her, but she had risked it and now it was back firing. She barely listened to the Admiral's proposal to attack the Imperial shipyard, Bilbringi, and gave the appropriate comment of approval at the intercepted message about the cloning facility on Wayland; it just did not seem to matter now. She had failed her people, and might still lead to their downfall. The Admiral finished and she dismissed the council. Leia placed a comforting hand over hers and tried to assure her that it was not her fault, but it did not help. She stood with the group and walked out, but did not speak to anyone. She needed to be alone.

Leia watched the broken leader go and felt a pain wrack her heart. She could have stopped the commision, she could have followed her instincts, the Force be damned, she knew it was wrong! Tears filled her eyes and she gladly wrapped herself into Han's warm embrace. He guided her back to their apartment, knowing that she would hate to be seen in such an emotional state, and let her cry all her frustration into his shoulder. He listened to her vent about how this was her fault, how the Force had been wrong, about the destruction of the Republic was all her fault. Eventually, there were no more tears.

"I failed," she whispered weakly. He stroked her hair and shushed her.

"No, you made a mistake. You're only human, Leia, and you can't hold yourself on such a high platform. Anyone could have made that mistake, just as Mon Mothma did," he tried to comfort her.

"But I'm not just human, I'm a Jedi, or the daughter of a powerful one. I should have been able to have seen that coming. Why didn't I know? Am I weak? I've felt things before!" she argued. Han gave her a blank, helpless look.

"I, uh... have you talked to Luke about this?" he asked pathetically. As if on cue, Luke came in hesitantly. Han breathed a sigh of relief and excused himself under the terms of giving Winter a break from the twins.

"What's wrong?" he asked. Leia gave him the run down of her frustrations and worries, though in a more calm state this time. Luke nodded and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Leia, you worry too much. Thanks to your inability to block your thoughts, I have known about your plan, and I too have monitored the Force just in case. Believe me, there was nothing to notice, except a potentially positive shift. You are not weak, you just are not trusting still," Luke assured her. Leia stared at him, amazed at how mature he had sounded. She was reminded vaguely of her adoptive father, Bail Organa, and how he used to talk to her when she came home from school distressed about some trivial bit of drama. She could not help a small smile forming on her lips at the comparison.

"Well, it's difficult to be trusting of something that is so obviously wrong. How can this be a good situation Luke? We just handed Thrawn a dangerous weapon! It will take a miracle for us not to be destroyed, much less actually win this war!" she countered. There was something missing from this picture, and she did not like it. Things had been so much simpler before she knew about her Force ability. Right now, destroying the Death Star sounded like a walk in the park compared to interpreting the Force.

"Have a bit of faith," he told her. "I feel really good about these plans, and things will work out. Perhaps, just not in the way we expect them to." She shrugged and sighed. Whatever the outcome, if it did not end in total destruction it would be unexpected.

--

Thjion watched Thrawn move about the room from his sofa, trying to piece together the complex picture Pallaeon had painted of his older brother. He was confused to put it lightly. The captain had described him as loyal, opinionated, fair, brilliant, clever, ruthless (at times), understanding, and proud. So basically, Thrawn was a walking contradiction. He was a Chiss who had no problem starting a fight. A man who did not tolerate failure, but encouraged learning. Someone who would fight for his leader, but would refuse an order if it endangered his men. He wanted peace, but would take it in a violent manner. Did he miss anything? Thrawn glanced up from his datapad and stopped pacing to return Thjion's stare.

"Is something wrong?" the Grand Admiral asked after a moment, unsure as to why he was being analyzed.

"I don't understand you," Thjion answered bluntly.

"Well, you're still quite a bit of a mystery yourself, but I don't sit there staring at you for hours on end," he countered. Thjion sighed. It had only been a half hour!

"What I mean is that there's like two sides of you. We have Chiss Thrawn and Imperial Thrawn, two totally different people, and someone how they have managed to mesh together into one body and I have no idea how that's working out!" Thrawn responded with a dignified version of the 'Bantha in front of the Speeder' look. He opened his mouth twice to speak, but nothing came out. Usually, he would have had a witty remark, but this was just so unexpected, he had no idea what to say. Thjion continued rattling on about how he contradicted his personality and what-not, but eventually he cut him off.

"First, I think it is dangerous to leave you and the Captain alone anymore, as he has clearly provided fuel for your... dangerous thoughts. Second, I am at perfect balance, and it is working out quite nicely. Third, what are you getting at? There is clearly a deeper meaning here," he listed off.

"I want you to reconsider the surrender. It's a good idea and will work far better in the end." Of course, and now Thrawn understood why Thrass had rejoiced when he moved out, away from his little brother. Why he had ever wanted a younger sibling was beyond him now.

"No, absolutely out of the question. I have had this plan worked out since before you existed... in an existential point of view. It will work just fine. Now, no more of this surrender nonsense," he stated finally. However, Thjion was stubborn and finally Thrawn had to lock himself in his bedroom to drown out most of the noise. Thrawn slid down the door and looked up at the ceiling as if for guidance. The picture of Thrass's face filled his mind, appearing to be projected on the metal tiles, and he spoke the two most sincere words he had ever spoken: "I'm sorry."

A/N: Ah, little siblings, you gotta love 'em. Poor Thrawny, at least he's cool most of the time! So, sorry for how long this chapter took. It was just that chapter that you have to write, but you don't really want to. Kind of like math homework, you don't want to, but you have to. Only this was actually fun at times to write. Maybe if I had had some reviews I might have been more motivated! wink wink, nudge nudge Well, the next chapter is basically written, but I'm going to be out of town for a week so it will have to wait until then. REVIEW PLEASE so I can have something happy to look forward to. Love ya'll! moonservant