Chapter 60
Supreme Admiral Mitth'raw'nuruodo, better known simply as Admiral Thrawn, walked calmly into Vader's office on the Executor, Emperor Vader's new flagship and the first Super Star Destroyer to finish production. It had been Thrawn's gift to the Emperor for Empire Day, and also a hidden bribe to convince Vader to order the launch of the Defenders early. He hadn't received word yet, but he was hoping that that may be what Vader had summoned him for. As soon as he was through the door, it closed and locked tightly behind him, leaving Thrawn and Vader trapped in here together, but Thrawn wasn't afraid. If Vader had a grievance with him, he would not need to go to such lengths to capture him. In fact, Thrawn probably would've surrendered himself willingly to the Emperor's judgment, knowing that it could only be a mistake.
"Your Highness," Thrawn started, "you summoned me?" Vader just kept staring blankly out the window of his office, looking out into space drifting by. Without turning his head, Vader said, "I summoned you here because you have the brightest mind I know, Admiral. I have a… problem that requires your expertise." Thrawn started to get excited and said, "Well, I and the entire Imperial Navy stand ready for your request, My Liege." Vader took a deep breath and asked, "Are we the good guys, Thrawn?" Thrawn hadn't been expecting that question, and though he wasn't really one to become lost, he questioned, "Er… Sorry, My Liege, but what do you…" Vader turned to him, still somehow shocking Thrawn with his once again human appearance, and asked again, more slowly this time, "Are we the good guys? Are we really improving anything?"
Thrawn scoffed and replied with annoyance, "Of course we are, Your Majesty. The Empire doesn't touch a single system without making it better." Vader walked back and swiped a hand over his desk, and hundreds of floating holographic videos appeared above the surface of the desk. Some were from stormtrooper helmet cams, some were street cameras, some were even from civilians' individual holopads, but the thing that they all had in common was that each one showed recorded footage of Imperial involvement in something terrible. Some showed Wookiee prisoners being electrocuted and shoved into ships, taken from their homes on Kashyyyk. Another showed those same prisoners dying in spice mines, their bodies being buried underneath their prisons, each world completely devoid of life or even fresh air. Another camera showed several dozen stormtroopers using electrical batons to break up a small protest of no more than ten civilians. One image showed a pickpocket child being marched into an Imperial prison wearing oversized binders on his wrists.
Thrawn was unfazed. "What you are showing me is the price of war, Emperor. These are all necessary losses for peace." "Peace?" Vader asked. He pointed at all the images of violence and pain in the videos and asked, "How is any of this peace? And 'necessary losses?'" He gestured again. "None of this is necessary. These people are guilty of nothing more than disagreement. In fact, some of them are completely innocent of any crime whatsoever!" Thrawn looked at him in confusion. "What happened to Lord Vader, scourge of the galaxy, the merciless dark lord of the Empire?" Vader glared and said, "He was selfish. As Emperor, I cannot be him. He wanted to push his pain on those around him, but I don't have that pain. Emperor Vader can be, and must be, better." Thrawn sighed in exasperation. "My Liege, we must strictly enforce the small laws to make them afraid to break the bigger laws." Vader grit his teeth and growled out, "I don't want them afraid. I want them safe and happy." Thrawn smiled in amusement. "Those two things do not coincide, Emperor. As galactic ruler, you must learn this. For joy, you must sacrifice safety. For safety, you must sacrifice joy."
Vader sat down in his chair and put his head in his hands. He looked up and examined a video of three stormtroopers kicking a fallen store owner as his family screamed for them to stop. "What if… there were protectors?" Vader mused. "Not like the Clones or stormtroopers, but real protectors of basic rights. What if we had a small portion of the people to sacrifice themselves, their own enjoyment, to ensure that everyone else lived happily and freely?" Thrawn chuckled. "The Republic had those, I seem to recall," Thrawn teased. "It didn't work out. The people supported their destruction, and so the Empire's strength rose out of necessity to replace them." Vader slumped over and sighed in defeat. He raised his gaze to Thrawn and ordered without enthusiasm, "Go. Deploy the Defenders. Make an example of Carida, but then recall them immediately." Thrawn bowed and walked out of the room smiling in satisfaction, too pleased with the results of this meeting to notice that his master was lost in deep thought and didn't look entirely convinced. In all honesty, Thrawn wouldn't care even if he had noticed. He'd done the math years ago. Vader would destroy himself on this path, and he trusted Thrawn's judgement too much to question him. Thrawn did genuinely like Vader. He was a man of principles. But sacrifices had to be made, and Thrawn had his own objective to fulfill. To do so, he needed Vader out of the way. Whatever it took.