A New Addition
The Battle of Atollon had not gone as planned. It was supposed to have been the Empire's greatest victory; the rebels' final stand. A defeat that would put an end to all opposition against the Emperor for good. A battle Grand Admiral Thrawn had spent much time planning and preparing for. In the months since being sent to assist Governor Pryce, an old ally of his, in dealing with the rebels who constantly harassed her system, Thrawn had worked tirelessly in gathering and studying every personal bit of information on the members of this rebel group and their allies. From their fighting styles to personal interests, and backgrounds; he'd contemplated all the strategies they may or may not use, preparing his forces for whatever they'd throw at him when the time came.
Yes, he anticipated they'd come up with a unique strategy to undermine Thrawn, but what he'd failed to realize until it was too late was Admiral Konstantine's stupidity in seeing the bigger picture and desire for glory. In the end, his attempts to keep Konstantine in check by putting him in a position where he was well out of the main fighting failed and the rebels managed to get one of their own out of his blockade, who later brought back help and allowed for the survivors to escape.
Enemy casualties were significantly high, estimated around over three-quarters of both Phoenix Cell and those from General Dodona's forces combined, including Commander Jun Sato. Yet still the results weren't what was desired from Thrawn or the other members of Imperial High Command.
There was also Kallus. True he'd been a big help in leading Thrawn to the rebel's hideout on Atollon, the traitorous ISB agent had escaped near the end. This didn't surprise Thrawn one bit given Pryce's mistake to send two low-ranked soldiers to execute a highly trained covert agent. A man who overpowered guards and escape to join the fleeing rebels.
To be honest, Kallus hadn't been any help for the rebels in their retreat from Atollon, and his escape could've distracted the rebels for at least a minute while they retrieved their secret ally, allowing for Imperials to lock on and attack them.
Sadly, this hadn't been the case, but it had been a longshot nonetheless, which Thrawn wasn't too concerned about. However, now Kallus was with the rebels, who would take full advantage of the former imperial's vast knowledge of the inner workings of the Imperial Military, including classified ISB codes and potential locations that if exposed, could pose a threat to the Empire.
His train of thought was interrupted when two of Thrawn's stormtroopers, Sargant TK-1983 and Private TK-1980, entered his private quarters, saluting before walking up to the Grand Admiral's desk. They were trusted officers, proving to be far smarter than the average stormtroopers, this being amplified from their time serving under Thrawn. The Grand Admiral was even considering having them sent for training as Death Troopers.
"Sir we recovered the weapon from that traitor Kallus's quarters as ordered," Sargeant TK-1983 said, placing down a very unique and rare weapon the former agent had been known to use fairly often, especially against the Lasat rebel Garazeb Orrelios.
A bow-rifle: a weapon serving as both a blaster rifle and an electric staff. Created by the Lasat people and used only by the most skilled warriors of their race. Kallus, though not being a Lasat himself, was said to have acquired his via combat when the Empire led a massive attack against the purple-furred aliens, resulting in their near extinction and the loss of almost all the remaining bow-rifles.
With Kallus having deserted from the Empire, unable to retrieve his prized weapon before doing so, Thrawn had requested it be brought to him as part of his growing collection of pieces that symbolized his rebel foes in one way or the other.
"Also found this sir," TK-1980 said placing a yellow meteorite beside the bow-rifle. This interested Thrawn. "Where did you find this trooper?" he asked.
"Kallus' quarter's sir. Found it right beside his bed. Don't see a lot of ISB agents carrying stuff like this and I thought it might interest you. Though I confess I have no idea what value it had to that traitor or how he came by it."
"Hmmm… very curious," Thrawn replied. A simple rock that Kallus could have retrieved from anywhere would've seemed meaningless in the eyes of many, yet not to Thrawn. Given the vigorous training that all Imperial soldiers went through, especially the elite trained like Kallus, which encouraged them to let go of personal items, it seemed quite odd that he'd held onto this item like it was a treasure. It didn't appear to be worth much, even on the black market, but still, Kallus had seen value in it. Why? Where did it come from? When did Kallus acquire it? How had he come by it? What made it so valuable to him? Did it have some sort of link as to what inspired his decision to turn away from the Empire and join the rebels? Thrawn had a strong feeling it did.
"Thank you for bringing this to my attention Private Jits," Thrawn said. "You are both dismissed."
Both soldiers were surprised by Thrawn's use of TK-1980's name instead of his designation, something not common among imperials officers, including the Chiss Grand Admiral. Each wanted to ask why he'd done so but knew better than to do so. Instead, following their orders, they saluted and exited the office, leaving the Grand Admiral to examine the yellow rock, looking at it with intense curiosity as if it was the key to destroying the rebellion.
"Most curious."