Chapter 11: Break the Truth Inside of Me
-.-.-.-
"For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is." – Yoda
"We're not just flesh and bone. Not just stuff. We're more. We're luminous." – Poe Dameron
-.-.-.-
"A bell that tolled to comfort me
An empty street
A rising steam
Break the truth inside of me
Climbed down to hell on the devil's tree
I clutched a branch of soot and flame
The thought that rose, to scorch my feet"
- Flesh and Bone by Black Math
-.-
Thrawn stood in a field of pure, silvery nothingness. Crimson eyes attempted to discern an edge, but the pearly silk upon which he stood seemed to go on forever. Limitless. There was no boundary in sight.
A spark of confusion boiled to the surface of his mind, but it was quickly gone, as if dispelled away.
The light in this space was soft and inviting. It gently caressed his sapphire skin with a smooth reflection. What is this place?
Compelled to investigate, feet stepped forward a few paces to explore this new setting. But he stopped immediately. Thrawn looked down at himself, startled to find himself clothed in a very familiar black military-style uniform with a burgundy patch and silver bars upon its collar.
He let out a surprised breath; subtle and cold condensation exhaled from his mouth and nose. He held his hands out before him, examining his uniform. Not for many years did he wear this armor. But it felt right.
This whole space felt… right.
A rolling crescendo began to transform the very space before his eyes, bringing with it a soft and pleasant breeze.
Voices flashed in faint echoes within its flow of transformation.
"It surrounds us and penetrates us." [Obi-Wan Kenobi] –
"The light, it's always been there. It will guide you." [Maz Kanata] –
"Luminous beings are we." – "Be a candle or the night." [Yoda] –
"You were right. You were right about me." [Anakin Skywalker] –
A wolf howl –
Thrawn saw the silvery silk upon which he stood transform beneath his combat boots into beautiful tall, green grass.
"Once a secret is known, it cannot be unknown." [The Bendu] –
"There is more than one sort of prison." – "The strongest stars have hearts of Kyber." [Chirrut Îmwe] –
"It's life's music. The song we make." [Leia Organa] –
The voices were barely discernible as if muffled yet attempting to break through. Thrawn strained to understand them.
But his crimson eyes took in an amazing sight and beheld the silvery surface of this space replaced by a sea of waist-high golden-green grass stretching out to the farthest distances of which he could perceive. The rolling sea of grass danced along to the rhythmic current of a soft breeze. Silence comfortably beheld the space, save for the gentle blades rustling together. Serenity.
A light blue sky faded into existence overhead, stealing his attention. Clouds peppered and refracted golden light toward him.
It was so… beautiful. The tranquil breeze teased a few locks of his loose blue, black hair falling across his forehead.
Thrawn heard a gentle hoot echo and averted his gaze a bit to his left. An owl-like creature drifted overhead and hooed twice more after seemingly catching his scarlet gaze.
An overwhelming peace overcame Thrawn. His shoulders relaxed.
A child's laughter suddenly permeated throughout the air. It crescendoed from mischievous giggles to playful shrieks of joy. It was a sound that could only be described as one that beheld the heartbeat of the universe; it was a sound that Thrawn hadn't been able to regard in quite some time.
An ache gripped his heart as his eyes scanned for the source. He cautiously stepped forward and walked wherever his ears led him. Grass parted before him as he walked.
Blue, shimmering butterflies emerged from the grass in his wake. They speckled Thrawn's armor with soft blue flashes of light as they fluttered and sparkled across the rolling meadow. He turned left and right as the laughter oscillated and reverberated between intensities, the butterflies following.
Suddenly chuckles reverberated more intensively from behind. Thrawn's heart quickened, and he stopped.
The laughter hushed and stopped with him.
The same gentle wind flowed mildly, carrying with it an empty silence yet continuing to tease at his hair. Thrawn looked down a moment as if unsure, the butterflies flickering across his vision as they glided over the blades of grass.
His brow spoke hesitation and worry. Cold condensation flowed from his mouth and nostrils with each breath despite the deceptively golden light of this space. What is this?
Thrawn took a deep breath and tentatively turned his head to look behind him. His shoulders and the rest of his body slowly followed.
Thrawn found himself rotated to face where the laughter stopped, and his scarlet eyes found a little girl bathed in a soft pearly glow upon the horizon. She stood not on the rolling fields of grass, but beyond it upon silvery silk where the sea of golden, green blades dared not to travel beyond. Behind her flowed a cascade of twinkling stars and purple brilliance.
The eyes of the little girl mirrored his crimson gaze, and her skin was identical to his own cerulean exterior. The top half of her hair was pulled back, while the rest of her blue, black hair hung in long curls over one shoulder. Loose bangs rippled around her face in the wind.
The wind heaved with his emotion as Thrawn's heart ached with recognition. His face scrunched in grief, and his knees staggered, but he caught himself. He swallowed his reaction, intaking a shakily restricted breath.
Another echoey voice, now clear and filled with wisdom.
"Rejoice for those around you who transform into the Force." [Yoda] –
Thrawn cautiously stepped toward the little girl, beginning to close the long distance between them. Sorrow hung within his crimson orbs, but also something else. There was a cheerfulness there.
A hope.
The blue luminous butterflies flittered about Thrawn once again as the grass parted before his steps. The child giggled with delight, and his steps became confident. Thrawn smiled far beyond the vast distance of sorrow that he felt.
Thunder.
"The dark side clouds everything." [Yoda] –
The wind suddenly howled, and the fields of grass rustled in distress. Thrawn halted his steps; his smile faded to concern as he considered the space once again. Purple lightning burst behind the little girl, and dark clouds rushed in, covering the towering blue sky. A low ominous hum began, as if magnetic.
The little girl startled. Thunder rumbled and echoed throughout the space. Thrawn could see where it was beginning to rain farther out, as dark streaks of blue cascaded toward the ground beyond the fields of grass. Golden light dimmed and was traded for one that held an ominous red and blue splendor.
Thrawn looked at the little girl with questioning eyes. She looked worried.
It began to snow; the butterflies disappeared. Cold vapor that Thrawn exhaled became more apparent, and the sea of golden-green grass suddenly morphed into a silvery and drooping sheet of frosted blades. The space now beheld the pallid bluntness of winter.
A chill filled the air. The little girl's gaze flitted to something behind him, and horror griped her features. It pained Thrawn to see her so afraid. Painfully familiar.
Another familiar cold enveloped Thrawn, startling him a moment. His crimson eyes widened in shock at the feeling. His mind, and the memories contained within, flooded back to him as if he had just broken free of an enchantment. All at once, he understood why he was in this place. And who shouldn't be here.
Panicked dread gripped Thrawn as he realized what the space in which he stood represented and possibly revealed. Thrawn caught the little girl's gaze another moment, her eyes pleading, while his own summoned her image and laughter to memory. I'm sorry…
His eyes flittered downward, and Thrawn furrowed his brow in concentration. He flinched his scarlet eyes narrow.
A sudden twist—CRACK—
A swirling burst of energy radiated outward from where Thrawn stood, and the shockwave shattered the frosted meadow into millions of pieces of speckled glass. It was a harsh, tumbling sound as the shockwave traveled.
Alien patterns and forms emitting control—
The features of the space faded into a silvery opaque and quiet nothingness.
Focus—opaqueness—
The only thing that remained from the previous scene was the speckled blanket of crushed glass that stretched forever in every direction. Thrawn looked up and saw silvery nothingness where the little girl once stood.
Opaque.
Thrawn inclined his chin and put his right wrist in his left hand behind him.
Defiance.
The sounds of a mechanical ventilator became apparent.
Thrawn mentally steeled himself to the present moment, knowing full well who stood behind him. A dark shadowy figure loomed in stark contrast to the pearly splendor of speckled glass and silvery horizon.
A familiar voice filled with malice boomed.
"I saw your mind," Vader said.
"Did you," Thrawn answered smoothly.
"Yes."
A wolf howl –
"Your focus determines your reality." [Qui-Gon Jinn] –
Vader slowly circled around Thrawn like a predator stalking its prey. Each step crunched and gnashed at the meadow of speckled glass. Thrawn stood resolute in his position, remaining focused upon a point in front of him. He knew the Dark Lord was walking around to his front though; he could feel his every step.
Vader stopped in front of Thrawn, the dark figure facing him with his expressionless mask that spoke malevolence. The Dark Lord's hands rested on his belt as he considered the Chiss, and Thrawn's eyes averted from the shadowy figure.
The Chiss' gaze steadied upon the silvery horizon beyond. Vader reached deeper through their connection, and could feel Thrawn's focus straining. Perhaps enough time had passed.
"The little girl," Vader said. "Who is she?"
A sudden twist—CRACK—
Thrawn's crimson gaze whipped to Vader's mask. His chiseled brow fluctuated, and his jaw tensed as he eyed Vader with tempered fury. Vader could see the red vibrancy of Thrawn's eyes had faded. The orbs were pale, losing their crimson glow.
Thrawn was having trouble focusing; it became increasingly difficult to keep Vader out and away from the depths of his mind. He flinched as his head suddenly began to ache. The blue and red light that held malice returned to the silvery space. A rolling magnetic hum emerged, filling the space around them, and a wolf howl echoed from the distance.
Thrawn let out a pained breath and shakily brought his right hand up to the temple of his head. He staggered, but Vader caught him underneath his right armpit and held his other arm tightly beneath the shoulder.
Thrawn closed his eyes and lowered his head in another pained gasp.
"What…," Thrawn said through pained breath. "What are you- doing- to me?"
-.-.-.-
The Chief Medical Officer of the ISD Devastator watched with a mixture of muted amazement and concern as Vader loomed over the unconscious form of Grand Admiral Thrawn. The Dark Lord stood to the side of Thrawn's head with the fingers of one gloved hand placed firmly on Thrawn's forehead and his other placed upon Thrawn's chest, fingers splayed over where his heart would be. An IT-O Interrogator Droid hovered passively nearby.
Thrawn lay restrained on a slightly tilted medical interrogation chair with probes and sensors around the back of his head. The same breathing tube was still extended from Thrawn's mouth, providing precious oxygen to his body and secured with tape. It hadn't been touched since his arrival on the ISD Devastator.
The white sleeve of his uniform on his right arm was hastily torn up to his lean bicep to provide access to his elbow pit for an IV. The fabric was stained with spots of red as the medical crew was harsh in their search for an artery. Clear tape held sensors and tubes that ran down the length of his structured forearm secure to his cerulean skin. Firm restraints around his upper bicep and wrist held the arm secure, ensuring the IV wouldn't be interrupted in the event of resistance. Restraints also were placed around Thrawn's left wrist and both legs, secured over his smooth black Imperial boots.
The Chief Medical Officer watched the screens and instruments around him, as neurological data ebbed and flowed along to a strange magnetic energy pulsating in the air. He didn't understand what was happening, but he had heard rumors about Lord Vader and could only imagine.
Loyalty Officer Major Emarr Ottkreg stood at the foot of the interrogation table observing with malevolent delight.
"Increase dosage of skirtopanol by two percent," Ottkreg said.
"Aye sir," the Chief Medical Officer said. Hesitation edged at his voice. "But I must warn that we're approaching safe limits Major."
Ottkreg rotated curtly on his heel around to face the Chief Medical Officer. His boot clacked on the metallic floor upon successful rotation. Ottkreg's form was stiff with Imperial rigidity, and his eyes glinted with authoritative judgement. The Chief Medical Officer flinched.
"Dare you question a loyalty officer during an interrogation?" Ottkreg said curtly.
"No- no, sir."
"Look behind me," Ottkreg said, every word pronounced with purpose.
Ottkreg let a moment pass as the Chief Medical Officer turned his gaze upon Thrawn. Thrawn had begun to unconsciously twitch under an invisible pressure. The restraints weren't quite needed yet but still held him in position.
"That- is no longer a Grand Admiral. What you see before your eyes is a traitor," Ottkreg continued. The Chief Medical Officer looked at Ottkreg with the wide eyes of a subordinate. "An. Alien. Once entrusted by the Empire at the highest levels, now reduced to… this."
Thrawn's shoulders unconsciously shifted underneath Vader's hands, a physical reaction to their mental struggle.
"That. Trust. Was betrayed!" Ottkreg said through vehement passion. He pointed at Thrawn, emphasizing his words. "And the knowledge of this betrayer must be discovered and obtained. No matter the cost. He and his people will be punished.
"Do you not agree, Stormtrooper Commander Kimmund," Ottkreg said, placing his hands behind him and turning his gaze to Commander Kimmund.
Kimmund stood guard beside an entrance door in his stormtrooper armor with his blaster held in his hands. Once again, he was thankful his helmet obscured his face, for his expression would have betrayed his true answer.
"Yes, Major Ottkreg," Kimmund said, projecting the tenor of a loyal officer. Thrawn flinched in the medical interrogation chair, making Kimmund startle. Kimmund's helmet shifted to Thrawn's form a moment as he considered the Grand Admiral and then looked at Loyalty Officer Major Ottkreg once again. He hoped he projected loyalty.
But Ottkreg saw it. He noticed everything. He would add this to his report.
"I'm glad you agree, Commander Kimmund," Ottkreg said with a hint of disbelief. Ottkreg turned to the Chief Medical Officer. "Status of injection."
"Progressing nominally sir," the Chief Medical Officer said as he monitored the screens before him. "The two percent adjustment is nearly complete."
"Very good," Ottkreg said as he turned curtly back toward Vader and Thrawn. "Very good…"
A magnetic aura intensified, making the walls respond in subtle reverberation.
"Whoa," The Chief Medical Officer muttered.
"The little girl," Vader said aloud with malice. "Who is she?"
There was a sudden regression in the magnetic aura, and Thrawn flinched again against his restraints. His head heaved left and returned to center again as if his body was trying to throw Vader's hand away from his forehead. Vader's fingers kept their place though.
The magnetic aura strengthened and pulsed in a new rhythm. Thrawn's hands quickly morphed into tight fists, and he began to struggle against his breathing tube. His body needed more oxygen than was being provided.
"Heart rate has dramatically increased Major Ottkreg," the Chief Medical Officer said in surprise.
Ottkreg pointed at the Chief Medical Officer, while keeping his enthralled gaze on the struggle.
"Do not- adjust- the oxygen," Ottkreg clippedly said.
"Aye, sir," the Chief Medical Officer said quietly.
Kimmund watched the scene in muted horror. Thrawn strained and weakly shook against his bonds. His chest visibly heaved as his body became desperate for more oxygen. But the flow of oxygen was constrained by the mechanics of the tube. The device that once saved the Grand Admiral now became something that the Empire twisted into a source of torture and distress.
Thrawn was clearly under distress, but Kimmund was hindered from action by his own unique restraints. Kimmund could do nothing.
Major Ottkreg returned his hand behind him and watched with wide-eyed awe and admiration.
"Fascinating," Ottkreg muttered.
-.-.-.-
"What…," Thrawn said through pained breath. "What are you- doing- to me?"
As he held Thrawn up on his feet with his left hand underneath Thrawn's right armpit, Vader squeezed Thrawn's left shoulder tight. Thrawn looked up at Vader's mask with pale crimson eyes. Soft cold vapor exhaled with each quickened breath.
"Your homeworld," Vader declared slowly. "Show me."
"Nah," Thrawn exasperated, his brow tensing.
Vader swiftly removed his right hand from Thrawn's shoulder and encircled his hand around Thrawn's throat.
Thrawn tried to flinch away but couldn't; he closed his eyes and grunted a lament in a strained breath. Not again. Vader applied just enough pressure to maintain control. Thrawn's knees buckled underneath him, twinkling the sparkling glass underneath with the shift of his feet, but Vader held him. In the same movement when his knees buckled, Thrawn instinctively grabbed Vader's left arm for support with his right hand.
They paused there, but the Dark Lord angled his hand after a moment, forcing Thrawn to look up at him.
Pained crimson eyes opened and beheld the malevolent mask of the Dark Lord. His gaze spoke defiance but also strain. His eyes were dimming.
Vader increased his grip for a moment, and Thrawn whisked his left hand up to Vader's wrist. Thrawn clinched his eyes closed as he tried to concentrate through shallow and labored breaths. Focus. Don't show him.
"You. Will. Show. Me," Vader said. Vader then suddenly released the majority of his grip around his throat, but still maintained control around Thrawn's neck.
Thrawn opened his eyes in surprise and breathed a deep breath. The release was unexpected. It made Thrawn's control falter.
His crimson eyes widened in horror, and brow raised in panic as he felt the slip.
It began to snow.
"Nah," Thrawn muttered desperately. He shifted his feet in a weak bid to get away from Vader.
But Vader was unyielding, holding him steady in place. Thrawn's eyes filled with sorrow as mountains began to take shape among the silvery silk beyond them.
"Ah," Vader said in victory. "And your thoughts manifest. But I need more to find it. Show. Me."
Thrawn's eyes began to flutter. He knew he had to regain control quickly or Vader would soon have enough familiarity of the planet to use the Third Sight ability to navigate to it. So this is why he was kept alive. Vader would surely use him to reveal the locations of the most prized secrets and locations of the Chiss Ascendancy. Thrawn couldn't allow that.
The sound of an owl hooting –
"Always remember, your focus determines your reality." [Qui-Gon Jinn] –
"To defeat your enemy, you have to understand them." [Ahsoka Tano] –
A wolf howl –
Thrawn pressed back instinctively and found an unknown strength. He narrowed his scarlet gaze and thought of her.
A magnetic hum reverberated with loud intensity as Vader found resistance from the Chiss. Thrawn flitted his gaze to a point behind Vader and saw her first. His eyes immediately spoke a scarlet, dim sorrow.
A harmonic, lilting voice suddenly echoed behind Vader.
"Are you an angel?"
Purple lightning erupted around them, erasing the towering mountains in a flash. Vader tensed and froze in his onslaught. He dropped Thrawn, and Thrawn fell on his right side with a twinkling shatter as he fell into the meadow of icy glass. In the same motion, Vader rotated and faced a lone female figure in the distance surrounded by a portal of shining stars and purple brilliance.
Padmé.
She stood there in her brilliant blue funeral gown, a gentle breeze tousling the folds of fabric. Her belly showed signs of having carried a child, large and round. Small white flowers were placed among thick curls of her hair surrounding her beautifully vibrant face. Luminous blue butterflies fluttered around her form. Her expression held worry and confusion.
Thrawn grunted and angled himself up an elbow. He caught her warm, brown eyes. Thrawn brought his other hand up to his throat, as he breathed heavily trying to catch his breath. He shivered in her angelic gaze.
-.-
A memory rushed forward.
A sleek Chiss ship settled to the ground nearby, while The Jedi wrapped together a bundle of explosives.
"I hope we'll meet again," Padmé said. "Thank you for your help."
"And for yours," Thrawn said, inclining his head to her.
-.-
Padmé searched Thrawn's face in confusion, but then there was a spark of recognition. Her eyes widened; Thrawn's narrowed and glistened. I'm sorry…
She whipped her gaze to Vader and shook her head. Thrawn anguished at her expression of grief. Tears flowed from her eyes, and she took a step backward.
"No," Padmé echoed.
"Padmé," Vader said as he stepped toward her, holding out a hand.
Voices echoed.
"Anakin, you're breaking my heart." – "Stop, stop now. Come back! I love you." [Padmé] –
"Liar!" – "You've betrayed me! You brought him here to kill me!" [Anakin Skywalker] –
"Let her go!" [Obi-Wan Kenobi] –
"You turned her against me!" [Anakin Skywalker] –
"You have done that yourself." [Obi-Wan Kenobi] –
Thrawn took in an emotionally stuttered breath listening to the Force-memory, cold vapor puffing along with his emotion. He shook his head in sorrowful guilt as his suspicion was confirmed.
Padmé screamed, and Vader halted in place. Thrawn felt a chill course through him as he watched Padmé transform before his eyes. Her skin began to melt, revealing bone, and her eyes began to glow yellow. Thunder rolled and purple lightning flashed harshly behind her. Wind quickened and howled throughout the space.
Thrawn lifted himself up and slowly staggered to his feet. He shivered, crossed his arms as cold snow fell and leaned against the wind. The fringes of his hair flowed wildly, and Vader's ventilator echoed loud despite the howling cascade.
"No…," Vader said, reaching out to Padmé again.
"Anakin!" Thrawn yelled.
Vader immediately responded and stretched out with his arm toward Thrawn. The air roared like a lion as the Dark Lord balled his hand into a fist, and Thrawn suddenly couldn't breathe. Thrawn brought both hands up to his throat trying to grab at an invisible Force wrapping around his neck.
"Anakin Skywalker. Is. Dead," Vader said with malice, slowly raising Thrawn as the Dark Lord spoke. The Chiss' toes shifted amidst the twinkling and shattered glass below as his feet tried to find support. "I told you not to speak of him again."
Padmé screamed in grief. It made Vader release Thrawn, and Vader turned to face Padmé once again. Thrawn erupted into strained coughs on the ground as breath returned to him. He looked up through pained scarlet eyes and saw what captivated Vader's attention. Padmé was fully transformed into a mummified form. Red streaks of lightning erupted out of her darkened eyes.
Thrawn closed his eyes.
"I don't know you," Padmé hauntingly echoed to Vader.
Padmé suddenly clutched her throat and was hit with a purple shard of lightning. She burst into flame, destroyed.
"No! Not again!" Vader yelled.
A white flash of silvery light erupted in the space.
-.-.-.-
Kimmund flinched as Vader howled, flinched his hands away from Thrawn and stepped back from the medical interrogation chair. Vader furiously outstretched an arm at the hovering IT-O Interrogator Droid, and the droid crumpled into a mass of showering sparks as Vader crushed it with the Force. It fell to the ground with a loud thud.
Vader found Thrawn's crimson eyes open with a weak defiant accusation, focusing upon the Dark Lord. Vader stared back with malice. Thrawn's brow was furrowed in concentration, but there was a vast sea of fog in his mind that he couldn't quite emerge beyond.
"My Lord?" Loyalty Officer Major Ottkreg prompted.
Vader tore his attention from Thrawn and faced Ottkreg. He pointed in anger.
"You have failed," Vader said. The walls reverberated with a magnetic pulse. "He is not weak enough. Prepare him for another session."
Thrawn's eyes wandered and explored the room. He mentally recoiled at the sight of the oxygen lines connected to his breathing tube and became fiercely aware of the sounds of the mechanical ventilator breathing for him. Thrawn gently closed his eyes in a physical manifestation of him shoving that reality to the back of his mind before he lost control.
Scarlet eyes sluggishly opened and moved down to his body. Thrawn saw himself restrained to the medical interrogation chair. His eyes found the IV in his right arm and then followed the tubing to find Imperial consoles surrounded by medical equipment. The Chief Medical Officer of the Devastator met his crimson gaze, but he quickly startled and averted his gaze, pressing buttons on a piece of equipment.
Then Thrawn met the steely gaze of Loyalty Officer Ottkreg. The major was studying Thrawn, watching his reactions.
"Yes, my lord," Ottkreg said, smirking. "I will make sure he's ready."
Thrawn then impassively found the fourth person in the room. He wore the armor of a Stormtrooper Commander. Recognition. Thrawn's eyes briefly flinched narrow. He and Commander Kimmund silently regarded each other.
Kimmund felt exposed in Thrawn's crimson sight. Could he feel Kimmund's conflict? His doubt?
"You best see to it before we reach Coruscant, Major," Vader said, pointing at Ottkreg. "The Emperor is not as forgiving as I am."
"I give you my word, my lord," Ottkreg said looking at Vader with confidence. "He will be ready."
Vader moved with heavy and furious footfalls toward the door.
"Commander Kimmund," Vader said as he walked. "I leave you to oversee the operation. I will be in my quarters, and I am NOT to be disturbed until he is ready."
Padmé.
Another energy pulse echoed through the air.
"Yes, my lord," Kimmund said.
The door shut behind Vader, the reverberating aura dissipating as the Dark Lord walked farther away.
Vader left them alone.
Major Ottkreg turned sharply and walked toward the medical monitoring equipment. He stopped and stood beside the Chief Medical Officer, reading the data on the screens.
"Show me the latest data," Ottkreg said. "And compare it with the readings from when our traitor arrived."
While Major Ottkreg conspired with the Chief Medical Officer, Commander Kimmund slowly walked to Thrawn's side. Thrawn's red gaze sluggishly followed Kimmund as the Stormtrooper Commander approached. Kimmund stopped beside him and considered those faded red eyes through his helmet.
It was as if Thrawn was reading him and speaking to him at the same time. He felt Kimmund's doubts. But what could Kimmund do?
"Give him a dose of lotiramine," Ottkreg said, inclining his chin toward Thrawn.
The Chief Medical Officer immediately spoke up. "But sir that will cause the skirtopanol to metabolize and- "
"I. Know. What it will do," Ottkreg said in hushed anger.
"With respect Major Ottkreg," Commander Kimmund said. "Even I know the risks of that mixture."
"Well then," Ottkreg said. "It's a good thing we have the chief medical officer of the ship here to ensure his survival."
The Chief Medical Officer swallowed, eyes wide.
"Because if he doesn't," Ottkreg continued, facing the Chief Medical Officer. "It would be very bad for you wouldn't it."
Ottkreg, with inclined chin, smiled at the Chief Medical Officer a moment and then graced Kimmund with the same expression.
"Begin the injection, that's an order," Ottkreg said with serious authority.
"Aye, sir," the Chief Medical Officer said, pressing a button sequence on his medical console.
Thrawn considered Ottkreg with the fierce crimson eyes of a Grand Admiral in the midst of battle. At the sound of a mellow trill from the medical equipment, Thrawn shifted his gaze to the tubing connecting the medical equipment and the IV inserted into his arm.
Thrawn watched as a foreign liquid traveled through the tubing toward his body. There was nothing he could do.
It felt cold at first as the liquid pushed into his artery. So odd. Eyelids became heavy, and he blinked slower. His head shook as he fought to stay awake.
But then his eyes went wide, his blood turning hot. Thrawn flinched against his restraints, and he curved his head back. His body began to fight against his oxygen tube, but the tape held it secure.
Muscles became stiff a moment, but then he trembled and jerked with tremors. Thrawn's eyes rolled up and back into his head. Kimmund placed a hand on his shoulder without thinking.
The tremors abruptly stopped, and unfocused red orbs returned forward. They were lax and pointed at an undetermined spot on the ceiling.
Thrawn relaxed, and his expression became soft, eyes straight and unfocused. It was quiet in the room except for the mechanical ventilator, steady in its hauntingly apt respirations.
Crimson orbs fought to stay open, sluggishly blinking without rhythm. His head weakly shifted, but then Kimmund watched the red orbs flutter closed, as Thrawn finally succumbed and released his hold on consciousness.
Watching that would haunt Kimmund forever. Kimmund looked up and found Ottkreg watching him with a smirk. They stared at each other a moment. Kimmund removed his hand from Thrawn's shoulder and placed it back on his blaster, straightening his shoulders.
Three quick beeps emitted from a medical console.
"His blood pressure is dropping," the Chief Medical Officer said.
"Inform me once the application is complete," Ottkreg said with malice.
"Ah… Aye, sir," the Chief Medical Officer hesitated.
Ottkreg sharply turned and exited the room. The doors closed with a whoosh.
The Chief Medical Officer let out an exasperated breath and leaned backward on a piece of equipment as he swam in the depths of his stress. He and Kimmund were left to the sound of the mechanical ventilator supplying Thrawn with precious oxygen.
"Keep him alive," Kimmund said. "By any means possible… You keep him alive."
The Chief Medical Officer stood straight and blinked rapidly. He nodded at Commander Kimmund and then started studying the medical console and sent commands to the machines. He glanced at Commander Kimmund though as the Stormtrooper Commander took a deep breath and placed his hand back on Thrawn's shoulder.
-.-.-.-
A stolen Imperial shuttle vectored away from the Ghost.
"Are you sure about this?" Kallus slowly asked from the pilot's seat. "Last chance."
"I'm sure," Ezra said, sitting down in the shuttle's copilot seat.
Rex stood behind Ezra and grabbed the seat for support while Kanan and Sabine sat in jumpseats behind them. They all wore stormtrooper armor as a prepared disguise. Sabine examined the white helmet as if visualizing a future painting upon a blank canvas.
Ezra keyed the comm.
"Hera, we're about to make the jump," Ezra said.
"Okay," Hera said, worrying filling her voice. "Please be careful, all of you."
"We'll be okay Hera," Kanan said.
"You better," Hera said with command. "As soon as I drop the engineers off at base and refuel, we'll meet you at the rendezvous point okay?"
"With one interesting additional passenger," Rex said nodding his head. "We'll be there Hera."
"We need to go now if we're to meet them at the hyperlane transfer point over Brentaal," Kallus said.
Hera took a breath. "May the Force be with you," she said.
"And with you," Kallus said as he steadied the shuttle on a new vector.
Ezra closed the audio communication, and Kallus pushed forward on the throttle. Light wrapped around the shuttle in flashy pseudomotion, and the stars stretched in blue brilliance as the shuttle jumped into hyperspace.
-.-.-.-
An enemy will almost never be anything except an enemy.
But an adversary can sometimes become an ally.
There is a cost of course. In all things in life there is a cost.
Sometimes the risk is one's future, or even one's life.
But in all such situations, the calculation is straightforward: whether or not the potential gain is worth the potential loss.