Chapter 30
Lord Scion looked out the window over the rolling waves covering the surface of Nur and thought about his recent audience with the Inquisitors. It had gone better than he'd expected. Only one of them had died, and he'd thoroughly terrified the rest into obedience, and maybe even made them more willing to show the proper respect for him. He knew that some of them would now be considering running away from their duties, but he also knew that not one of them was brave enough to actually attempt such a thing. In reality, this Fortress was just as much a prison as a base for them. Its shadows gave them a constant reminder that they now belonged to the darkness they had agreed to serve, body and soul. Its halls were filled with stormtroopers who, though sworn to follow the Inquisitor's orders, would not hesitate to turn on their masters should Luke give the word. They were, put simply, trapped by their own decisions the moment that they chose this life, and there was now no escape except for death. They could only hope to prove themselves in order to survive longer.
However, one fact about the meeting still bothered him. Turning on his heel, he walked to his desk and sat in his overly large chair, turning to face the Grand Inquisitor and asking him, "Where is the Eighth Brother? He was not present at the meeting." The Grand Inquisitor smiled at the authoritative behavior of such a young boy, but nevertheless answered him. "Eighth Brother is on Malachor, my lord, taking care of his duties, chasing his prey." Luke scowled. "Duties that he was assigned by the old Emperor, correct?" Luke asked coldly. The Grand Inquisitor nodded and Luke scoffed. "My Master is not worried about the Eighth Brother's prey, nor is he concerned that he will breach the temple on Malachor. It takes two to enter. Recall the Eighth Brother to the Fortress immediately. We must find out where his loyalty lies." The Grand Inquisitor bowed slightly, saying, "It will be done, my lord." He then left the room to send a message to Malachor, and Luke locked the door before turning to kneel before a hologram that appeared as the lights automatically dimmed. The giant form of Vader's helmet appeared in front of Luke and asked him, "Well?" "The Inquisitorius stands by you, Master," Luke reported, "but I had to deal with the Fourth Sister. It proved… difficult to ensure her loyalty." Vader said, "Well done, my apprentice, but I sense that your work is not yet finished. Once it is, come to me on Coruscant, and we will begin reshaping the galaxy." Luke bowed his head. "As you command, my Master."
Emperor Vader sat in his office as he ended his call with his apprentice, satisfied to hear that he would face no trouble from the Inquisitors and proud to hear that Luke had defeated the Fourth Sister, though he would have expected nothing less with how powerful his son had become. Just as he was thinking this, there came a knock on his office door. Thinking that this had better be important, Vader waved his hand and the door slid open. Seeing as almost everyone in the Empire was human, Vader was quite shocked to see the form standing on the other side of the door as they walked in. Vader stood from his desk and greeted the figure. "Grand Admiral Thrawn." The Chiss looked Vader over for a moment with his red, calculating eyes and responded in kind with, "General Anakin Skywalker," to which Vader would've visibly flinched had it not been hidden beneath his suit. He would have asked how Thrawn had guessed it, but he remembered Thrawn's keen intelligence from their meeting during the Clone War, so he instead said, "How can I help you, old friend?"
Hearing this, Thrawn smiled victoriously over his correct deduction, and answered the new Emperor. "I heard that you shut down Project Stardust, Emperor. I believe I owe you both thanks and congratulations. I never approved of the effort." Vader scoffed. "Of course you didn't. It was a fool's errand, designed to allow Palpatine to rule solely by fear, but was a massive waste of time, resources, and efforts." "I completely agree," Thrawn said sincerely in his calm, soothing voice. "That is why I have come to you. Given the numerous resources we are now saving, along with a large workforce of engineers out of a project to work on, I would like to petition for an increase of resources to increase the production rate of one of my pet projects. It's known as Project Defender." Thrawn held up a holopad in his hand and gently set it on Vader's desk. Walking over to the holopad and picking it up, Vader began to view the project's details, and to say that he was impressed would be an understatement.
"This would certainly be a much better use of the Empire's time to produce than a moon-sized battle station," Vader remarked. He handed the holopad back to Thrawn and said, "Very well, you will have your workforce and resources. However, to work in the Outer Rim, you will need to speak to a certain someone." As he said it, the very person he spoke of entered the room, the newly appointed Grand Moff Krennic, the new Governor of the Outer Rim. He stormed into the room, his white cape flying out behind him, and Vader was about to explode at him for not knocking, but them he saw the haggard expression that Krennic wore on his face. "My liege!" Krennic yelled. "There's something that you…" He broke off as he saw Thrawn staring at his windswept and unkempt hair with disdain, its unnatural untidiness showing in deep comparison next to the Admiral's perfect haircut. Suddenly much more reserved, Krennic quickly straightened his uniform and fixed his cape perfectly over his shoulders and said, "Oh, hello, Grand Admiral. What brings you here?" Thrawn smiled pleasantly at Krennic and replied with, "Business, of course, and congratulations on the promotion, Governor." Krennic puffed out his chest, proudly showing off his new rank pin that identified him as the Grand Moff, but Vader was getting annoyed. "Krennic!" Vader yelled, cutting off whatever he had been about to say in return for Thrawn's compliment. "You were saying?!" Krennic quickly paled, and remembered his rather unflattering entrance. "Yes, of course, my Emperor. As I was saying, there's something that you need to see…"
A/N: Hope you're enjoying! We'll get back to the Ghost crew in the next chapter, and I hope that you all enjoyed their appearance! I know that some people don't watch the Star Wars shows like Clone Wars and Rebels because they're animated and "for kids", but I would strongly encourage you to give them a chance if you haven't. When you don't watch those shows, you are missing out on a huge amount of Star Wars content, and they're definitely not just for kids. Clone Wars definitely has more gruesome deaths than the movies (and no, you can't count Alderaan). Don't be afraid to become a nerd like me! No sarcasm, though, you should totally watch the animated shows if you like Star Wars. Anyway, on to what I really wanted to say. For readers of Archer vs Knight, know that my posting on that story is currently halted for chapter revision. I'll leave what I have on there, but it may be awhile before I continue posting. Keep in mind, this is only temporary. Thank you for your patience!