When you're on, you're on...
I felt like just having a conversation with Thrawn was a bit of a cheat, so a mission for him seemed like a good idea. One idea led to another, and now I have this...hopefully the next stage of Shadow's journey into darkness. Let me know if you like it. Hopefully the next chapter shouldn't be too long in coming.
STAR WARS: THE EMPEROR'S SHADOW
TRUE IMPERIAL
CHAPTER EIGHT: GHOSTS OF WAR
I should have been in a state of shock…
Thrawn had, from the smallest of clues, worked out the identity of the woman beneath my armour-the identity of the Emperor's Shadow. He had indisputably proven the quality of the mind that he brought to the Empire. However, if there was one surprise about my identity being uncovered by another, it wasn't the fact that he didn't seem to care-if anything her merely filed it away in his labyrinthine mind as another piece of information that could be called upon at will. No, if there was a shock, it was how I felt about such a revelation…
I could not have cared less.
Once the initial shock wore off, the fact that I had been called by my former name, I felt a sense of distinct apathy. The reason for this I can assume was because I no longer see myself as the woman who once held that name. She was utterly dead…replaced by the woman that I had become through years of suffering and servitude. And had Thrawn recognised that…? Could he see the fact that I had changed irretrievably?
It didn't matter, in all honesty. This was who I was now. The Emperor's Shadow. However, while our meeting had sated Thrawn's curiosity, Thrawn was not quite finished with me yet…
He messaged me one last time, requesting a meeting at the spaceport where his current placement was docked. Thrawn was due to disembark from shore leave that day, and apparently had more to say. Not wishing to let another opportunity to observe him slip by, the Emperor sent me to meet him.
Thrawn was standing on a high up balcony, observing the comings and goings of the ships and shuttles moored here. Using another cover identity and holographic image, I had little trouble sneaking into join him. He seemed preoccupied on studying the shuttle that was due to take him to his current posting.
"Such an elegant little vessel…" he commented, sensing my presence.
Knowing that we were out of sight, I deactivated my holographic imager.
"Appreciate the show of faith…after all, appearances count for so much in this galaxy…" he mused.
"You wanted to meet about something?" I asked.
"Straight to the point…I respect that. No doubt his Excellency wishes to glean more information out of me. Perhaps wishing to know why I, an alien of a race hitherto unknown to this galaxy, offer my allegiences to this Empire…"
I nodded. He did, though I did not speak of these desires on his part.
"My reasons are my own, which I may reveal in time. However, one lesson that I feel I must impart is the importance of maintaining the galaxy under one banner. With everybody as part of the whole, everybody has a place and purpose. It also means that should a threat of sufficient magnitude arise, the galaxy will be adequately prepared to meet it head on. I have knowledge of potential threats, which I shall share, but I am in need of continual knowledge. In this respect, I believe you can help me out…"
He held out a datapad which contained planetary co-ordinates. I did not recognise the planet, but I could see from the co-ordinates that it was out on the edge of the galaxy, not far from the Unknown Regions from which Thrawn had originated.
"My research has uncovered a potential data cache that may aid my own knowledge, and by extension the Empire. I am unsure exactly what it may be, but I would like to obtain it. However, at this moment I am engaged in missions and obligations of my own and cannot spare the time. If you were to take the mission, I am sure that you would find something that may make it worth the effort for your Emperor. Will you take the mission…?" he asked, his tone calm and measured.
"It could prove most useful…" the Emperor murmured into my subconscious.
"I'll take the mission. What do you hope to find exactly?" I asked.
"I'm not entirely sure. It was a warzone during your Clone Wars, so a Confederacy data cache could remain there, as could some Clone Wars era technology. However, the planet does have a history of past habitation, so it's likely a past civilisation may have left something worthwhile behind."
"What would interest you? A blueprint for a superweapon?" I asked, prodded by the Emperor.
Thrawn shook his head. "While such information would prove interesting to peruse, I find superweapons to be costly and ineffective when compared to a sizeable space fleet-which provides much more utility. Besides, a superweapon provides too big a target…" he observed.
"I won't keep you, Thrawn. I shall set off immediately…" I told him.
"I shall await your findings. Send them on to my ship when able." He then turned back to the assemblage of ships, back to his study. I took my leave and departed.
As was normal, the Emperor had a comment for my mind to hear across the depths of space.
"A most intriguing offer…who knows what could be uncovered? Interesting to hear his beliefs on allocations of military funding. He could clash well with some of my other up and coming officers…"
As usual, he was thinking in the long-term…which was how he had outplayed us all years before.
The journey aboard my ship to the planet gave me time to think about Thrawn.
He was very much an outsider, but he had chosen to join the Imperial Navy despite not knowing a great deal about our galaxy. However, he had proven his tactical genius and agile mind-and was overcoming various prejudices. It was his belief in a united galaxy that intrigued me the most, however. With the entire galaxy under one banner, it would prove far stronger than as a series of piecemeal regimes. And while Thrawn didn't want to say (possibly because he was unsure of the nature and magnitude) that there were threats out there, he implied that they were nonetheless there-and could very realistically emerge from the Unknown Regions. If the galaxy was divided by another civil war, this could be a very dangerous situation. The Empire would also find a place for all peoples and races within its machinery-of that I had little doubt now.
The planet was not one that I had ever visited, but it was a relatively nameless one which had nonetheless been held by the Confederacy of Independent Systems during the Clone Wars. Possibly a site for building more Battle Droids, or a rear command centre-who knew? A sensor sweep from orbit revealed technology, though it was very much decaying. If there was anything to be salvaged here, it would have to be completed fast. Setting my course for the strongest readings, I homed in on those-hoping to find a Separatist landing base that I could use. The war had only ended just over a decade ago, so it was likely that facilities were still moderately operational.
The planet was a jungle planet, though with some signs of industry and civilisation. The world was littered with old stone ruins as well as factory type buildings, both of which were being reclaimed by the jungle. It definitely warranted further investigation…
Finally, I found it. A landing pad with creeper vines crossing it, on the roof of a large building.
Landing my craft, I exited and went searching this dead planet for what I sought.
The moment that I exited my craft, I felt an all-pervading sense of…what? Darkness? Evil? I was unsure, but I couldn't shake the sense that something-or-someone-was watching me…
Shaking these feelings, I entered the building.
Upon entry, I spotted the fallen bodies of Trade Federation battle droids. So there had been a Separatist base here…possibly a foundry planet to manufacture Battle Droids to reinforce nearby systems during the Outer Rim Sieges. However, the shutdown signal during Order 66 had ended any need for this world and its forces. The droids themselves had been built to last, but under a bitter war and with resources growing scarcer, these droids had been evidently built under a tighter budget. They were visibly malfunctioning even this near to the end of the war…
It took some time to navigate the building, due to the decaying architecture, but I was able to pass through the decaying droid foundry that formed the bulk of the main building, with my serum providing the athletic boost necessary to make some of the leaps. The foundry no longer functioned, the droids that built the battle droids having been shut down. Once molten metal had spilled out over the floor from giant vats, and electrical cables sparked lethally at random. The jungle's vegetation had smashed windows and snaked through broken down doors, and was invading the machinery now. But finally, I found what I was looking for…
The control room.
The control room was slightly dilapidated, but as it had been built higher and deeper into the building the jungle hadn't reclaimed it the way it had with the rest of the building, there was less damage. This part of the building had been more heavily fortified in case of clone assault or bombing run, so this room felt safer than any other. One feature that did surprise me was a healing pod clearly designed for a cyborg. This could only be for the use of General Grievous, the late Separatist general. I had come across one of the general's bolt holes…
But what else was here?
Accessing the computers, which amazingly still functioned (the building's emergency power reserves were still operational, explaining how I had been able to see within the building) I was able to find the main computer core. It was actually nearby-down a stairwell accessible from the command centre. Descending carefully down the rusting stairs, I descended into the bowels of the building, the ideal place to hide a permanent data archive. However, as I progressed, I could sense…something, watching in the shadows…
Finally, I made it to the bottom. The data archive lay within reach. Connecting up my wrist computer with the data computer, I was able to discover that the data was intact. Most of it was likely already stuff that the Empire had, but no doubt Thrawn would find it useful. I downloaded everything I could find it and arranged for it to transfer to the data archive on my ship, though I would not be able to transfer the data to Thrawn until I was in orbit.
I was about to leave when the lights went out.
The lights came on shortly after, to reveal a hooded figure all in black…which then promptly vanished. Before I had time to process this mystery, I heard a voice…
"You come for information, Imperial Servant? Follow my voice into the shadows of this planet…there is far more to discover here. I will be your guide…" The voice was a woman's-low and ethereal.
And unmistakeably long dead.
At that moment I realised…I was not alone on this planet.