Star Wars Infinities: The Master
Chapter 17
By: Christopher W. Blaine
e-mail: darth_yoshi@yahoo.com
DISCLAIMER: All of the characters and situations contained in this story are ©2003 by LucasFilm Ltd. They are used here without permission for fan-related entertainment purposes only. This original story is ©2003 by Christopher W. Blaine.
Palleon had just started his dessert when a messenger arrived with a communication for Thrawn. He waited before sampling the spiced cake as his superior read the small datapad, thanked the messenger and told him to have his department head arrange for a command meeting in one hour.
Thrawn hardly ever ate dessert but after receiving the message, he seemed almost animated with glee as he helped himself to a scoop of iced dairy confectionary. The flavor was Alderaanian Wealthy. "A report from our advanced TIE Interceptor scouts; the Death Star's advance forces just arrived in the Mon Calamari system and are forming up in typical fashion to engage our perimeter forces," he announced as he started to eat.
Palleon nodded and took a bite of his spice cake. "Just as you had stated they would. I never realized that Daala was so predictable. Her scores at the Academy indicated otherwise."
Thrawn's head cocked slightly and he smiled grimly. Most people found the appearance of his face in that manner unsettling. Palleon was quite used to it. "Go on, Captain; I was not aware that Grand Moff Daala was an interest of yours."
There was a hint of sexual attraction. But Palleon mentally dismissed it. He had long sowed his wild oats. "She was commended by many of her instructors for her ability to adapt in an instant to a changing situation. I often take the time to read up on my enemy."
"What do you think changed her to make her so, as you put it, predictable?" Thrawn asked. He put the spoon into the bowl of melting dessert and settled back in his chair, going into one of his thinking modes.
Palleon decided to rise to the challenge if only because he knew that his friend and superior enjoyed these small intellectual contests. It didn't bother Palleon that he lost them most of the time; in fact, he thought he was probably a better officer because of his exposure to Thrawn's philosophies. "Let us forget," Palleon started, "that she is a woman, a woman of great beauty mind you…"
"Why?"
Palleon carefully considered his answer before speaking. "I cannot speak for your race, but in mine, female beauty is a powerful weapon and tool. Whether that is right or wrong, I cannot say, but it did seem to entrap Tarkin of all people. As a woman, regardless of her scores at the Academy, she never would have commanded a flag position in the Imperial military."
"Doubtless because the Emperor feared strong women," Thrawn said. It was a shocking comment because Palleon had always considered the blue-skinned alien to be the Emperor's most ardent supporter. "Don't look at me that way, Captain; it is the truth. The truth is the truth no matter who it is about."
The junior man did not want to say anything more, worried that Lord Ravage had spies lurking about. He did not know how he would take to such comments about his father. "If she had been a man and allowed to progress through the normal chain, I could see where she would become complacent. Routine duty tends to create routine procedures. The fact that she has accomplished so much in the past ten years shows she has that ability to adapt quickly. Yet," he said with a small nod, "you have guessed every single move she has made since Tarkin died."
"That is because she has succumbed to the most wasteful disease that can inflict the military professional," Thrawn replied. "Ambition. Once a military officer decides that they want power, instead of serving power, as is their duty, they try to emulate the politicians they hope to replace. The military does not teach politics, it teaches power. Many would say politics equals power, but it doesn't."
Palleon did not agree and he argued that Palpatine had both, power and political savvy. Thrawn shook his head and stood up. He often liked to pace when he started lecturing. Palleon felt like he was back in the Academy himself and stopped eating his cake to listen. "Palpatine had power, power through the Force. He used that power to make political events occur, but he was not a true politician. A true political savant would find a way to get everything they wanted by not doing anything at all. For example, Garm Bel Iblis is a politician."
"He is a warrior politician…"
"So says the holodramas, but I disagree. Without the men he is able to rally behind his cause, the military men like Baron Fel and General Antilles, he is simply a man with a message. On the other hand, men like Fel and Antilles can take control of things by using the forces under their command." He paused and examined his friend's face. "Have you ever really wondered why I did not take control of the Empire when Palpatine died?"
"I have me theories. I simply assumed that you were not interested in the job."
Thrawn gave a deep laugh. "Oh, I was interested, but what purpose would it serve? If I allowed my ambition to get the best of me, then my enemies would know a weakness. Daala's ambition was evident from the moment she took Tarkin as her lover. Why would a beautiful young woman like her, as you have so rightly pointed out, want to spend her best years with a withered husk of a man?"
"Ambition?" Palleon asked.
"Yes, and it was her ambition to become ruler of the galaxy that told me how to defeat her. She has the Death Star and she will use it. A true soldier would see that the Death Star's real worth is the psychological value in deploying it." He stopped and picked up his bowl and took a small bite. "Knowing she was going to use it, I had to ensure I gave her a target she could not resist."
"So, she has become predictable because she no longer has the soldier's mentality," Palleon said slowly, nodding his head. By the Force his commander was a master at this game. "The added bonus is that now the Corellian Sector is undermanned and ripe for the picking."
Thrawn shook his head. "The New Order has suffered many great losses in the past five years, Captain; how would we garrison the worlds? Lord Ravage does not like to use Tarkin's heavy-handed tactics, he prefers stealth, as do I. Instead, we have left the system open for rebellion by its people."
"Then we'll have the New Republic a lot closer to Imperial Center!" Palleon said, his voice rising a little higher than he had wanted. "Forgive me, sir," he said, his eyes cast down.
"That's the reaction I would expect from most people and they would think I am being predictable, that I'm allowing some personal quest for revenge against the Tarkinists override my better judgment. Nothing could be farther from the truth." He set the bowl down again and reached for his glass of water. He took a long sip and then smiled some more. He was truly in rare form this night! "Have you not ever listened to Garm Bel Iblis and his rhetoric? He doesn't want Corellia as part of the Republic, he wants it to be neutral. Think of it, we could deny the New Republic of over 15% of its operating forces in a single stroke."
"So you would suggest to the Emperor that we sign a non-aggression pact with the Corellians?"
"Of course and given that the New Republic has done very little to help liberate the sector, I think they would be inclined to agree to one immediately, especially if we award them several contracts for building capital vessels. The former ally of our enemy can be our ally today."
Palleon tried to imagine the intricate planning that had gone into this plan and he was amazed. No wonder he had been kept out of the loop on so many things. If he had made a mistake or a blunder, then Thrawn's master plan would fail and the Empire would have suffered. "How did you know that Daala would leave only a skeleton force to watch over Corellia? That was a gamble."
Thrawn's red eyes seemed to shimmer. "I never gamble."
"Warlord," the Tactical Officer said as he approached Thrawn and Palleon. He handed over his data pad and gave his report while Thrawn scanned it. "Our scouts indicate that the Tarkinists are sending out TIE Fighter probing flights. We have also picked up signals from the military leaders on Mon Calamari. In accordance with your instructions they are scrambling their ground forces."
Thrawn nodded and dismissed the officer. Palleon asked if he were going to sacrifice the Mon Cal defense forces for his plan to succeed. "I've taken the liberty of hiring mercenaries, not so uncommon in these days of depleted forces."
That reminded Palleon of a report he had received several days before from an Imperial message dump. "Have you heard about raids on our outlying supply depots?"
Thrawn turned slowly. "No…"
"I've gotten several reports and requests for information from various commanders. They have sent several teams to some of the depositories on the Outer Rim to pick up used equipment and have found them ransacked." He scratched his head. "I thought maybe it was part of your plan, sending derelict ships into the path of the Death Star."
"Not all of the ships mothballed there are derelict, Captain," Thrawn replied as he considered the ramifications. The Outer Rim reserves were mostly places that outdated ships, or ships so shot up they only had scrap value, were taken to. The plan was that once proper shipyard facilities were established in a discreet sector, the vessels would be towed there to be repaired or used for spare parts. Thrawn had estimated that he could outfit a fifteen-ship fleet. "What about the patrols set up to guard the facility?"
"They weren't there according to the reports." Palleon paused and tried to think of a reasonable explanation. "Maybe it was a New Republic raid."
Thrawn considered it and then considered the outfit of the New Republic forces as he knew them. Corellian and Chandrillan vessels were normally assigned to frontline sectors while Mon Calamari forces made up garrison forces. The majority of the other fleets, made up of 4 to five capital vessels, were spread out throughout the various worlds of the New Republic facing down either AFNO forces or Tarkinists.
The New Republic, like the Empire, was not above hiring mercenary forces but that would take a unit of rather large size. "Have you checked on the nearest Corporate Sector forces?"
Palleon sniffed and shook his head. "That's another thing; we got a flash message just a few hours ago that the Empire has assaulted the Bespin System."
"Under whose authority?"
"Skywalker."
Thrawn shook his head. Pulling the Corporate Sector into his war against the Tarkinist and the New Republic. If the Empire was ever going to be able to challenge the CSA, he needed his plan to work flawlessly. "What was the end result?"
"A CSA Victory-class was destroyed, but that isn't the half of it. Skywalker has reported that he has Leia Organa as his prisoner." He moved a little closer to Thrawn to keep his voice from carrying. "He is still on Cloud City. If I send a priority message via the holonet it can get to him in a few hours."
Thrawn thought about it and nodded. "Also, contact Board Member Thracen Krawl of the Corporate Sector and offer to pay him whatever he wants to keep this incident quiet." Thrawn's red eyes flashed briefly, a look that Palleon knew was beyond just mild annoyance. "And inform Luke Skywalker that military decisions are mine to make."
Four standard Imperial Center hours later, Fresca received the message from Captain Palleon of Warlord Thrawn's fleet. She read it briefly and then decided to throw it away. Luke had betrayed her by causing her to relive one of the most horrible events of her life. He had taken pleasure in her pain and when she had seen the look in his eyes, she had realized that she had been sleeping with a devil.
She had broken faith with the Empire, she knew in her heart. Years of loyal service by her grandfather and her mother had amounted to nothing. Her brief time in the intelligence corps had merely opened her eyes to what was going on around her. Certainly the dark side of Luke was appealing and most women found it intoxicating. She had even allowed herself to believe she wanted to be hurt, to be put in great physical pain that went along with the sweetness of intimate relations. It had been a lie. Her ambition was only a cover for a desire to be free. She had always figured if she reached high enough office, the taint of the darkness that was the New Order would be able to be removed. How wrong she had been!
She looked down at the message. Warlord Thrawn was officially back in the galaxy, returned from whatever dark assignment Lord Ravage had sent him on. She could only imagine what sort of evil Thrawn had in mind for the New Republic and the Confederacy. Unlike so many others in the Empire, she did not hold Thrawn in such high regard. Where people saw a tactical military genius, she saw a man who enjoyed a methodical slaughter. He masked his sociopath tendencies behind military conquest.
Still, Thrawn was the only person who could outright challenge Luke's authority. This entire debacle on Bespin was going bad very quickly. She had already received the report from the battle and it wasn't good. Their spy in the CSA had been killed when his star destroyer was blown to bits by a trio of TIE Defenders (of course the star destroyers of Luke's personal fleet had managed to bring down the CSA vessel's shields). When the Corporate Sector discovered this, they would respond fully with either a bill or with force.
There had been no less than ten encounters between the Corporate Sector and AFNO fleets over the past ten years. While the Empire always came out ahead, that was only through pure luck. There was no doubt that the Corporate Fleet, compromised of over 300 Victory-class star destroyers, was the largest military force in the galaxy. Luckily, its command structure was not quite as admirable.
But there would be hell to pay and Fresca had no desire to be here when the CSA came calling to take back their profitable planet. The only thing was she did not know where she could go. She could get a shuttle; that would be no problem and she doubted Luke would ever lift a finger to stop her from going. He had no further use for her now as he had his sister to play with.
Fresca had walked by the chamber where Leia was being held and had peered in through the small window in the door. Just over the stormtrooper's shoulder she could see a beaten, bruised and very naked Leia chained to the wall while Luke punched her in the stomach. Just as she would cry out, he would close his eyes, no doubt using his abilities to intensify the pain.
Of the three men that had been in the docking bay, only two remained. Dash Rendar had been sent flying over the side and into the abyss of the gas planet. Leia had screamed for Luke to save him, but he had instead…she shook her head. Even she had not thought him to be that cruel. His hatred and rage towards his sister was uncontrollable. The only thing that would make him even angrier was if she were to escape.
A scheme formed in Fresca's mind. If she could save Leia and the other two, Horn and Calrissian, they would give her a first-class ticket into the New Republic. She knew that General Xizor would jump at the chance to have her join his operation and it would give her a chance to strike even more blows at Luke's ego.
She grabbed the message, the ambitious plan forming in her mind even as she put on her red leather operative uniform. She needed to get the message to Luke.
"He's ordered me to what?"
Fresca kept the latest piece from the Imperial symphony playing in her head ash Luke raged and threw the message down on the floor. "He's trying to interfere in Sith matters, that blue-skinned ape!"
The intelligence officer cleared her throat and Luke stopped and turned to her. His face was blood red and there were cuts all over his hands and wrists. He looked as if he had been given a beating as opposed to providing one. She could not even begin to imagine the condition Leia was in, if she were even still alive. "Technically, lord, you did overstep your boundaries when you attacked the CSA vessel."
Luke spit on the floor and uttered a very foul curse word. "What good is a fighting force if it doesn't fight once in awhile? Does he really think I need a whole fleet to pursue Jedi?"
"Regardless, lord, I again have to stress that in matters of military protocol, he is senior to you."
Luke nodded, knowing she was right. The military was important to the Empire and as much as he hated to admit it, as he often did, Thrawn was the better man to lead it. Still, it was only one vessel in a remote part of the galaxy. Surely the Corporate Sector would not go to war over something as trivial as this. Of course, he could call up the Board and tell them he had been hunting Jedi on Cloud City. The Corporate Sector, which had portions of the old Trade Federation incorporated into it, had no love for the Jedi that was true.
Surely they would have preferred to have the Jedi removed. "I didn't realize you had a love for classical music," Luke said as he tried to read her mind. He assumed that it was her way of coping with the dark memories he had dragged to the surface of her mind. He really didn't care; he was done with her. "I suppose we need to prepare to leave."
"My intelligence indicates that would be prudent. It would also be wise that you report back to your flagship in the event the Warlord wishes to speak with your personally regarding this matter," she told him. He wanted to argue, but didn't. He had what he wanted, why not leave.
He considered taking Leia with him personally, but he could not be sure that she would not try to escape. He needed something to keep her in line, something she would find more important than her own life. In an instant, he knew what that was. "Have Horn taken down to the carbonite freezing chambers."
Fresca wrinkled her face. "May I ask why?"
"I have something special planned for my brother in the Force," Luke said before breaking into a fit of hysterical laughter that seemed to echo through the entire city.