However, the holocron, glowing an eerie blood-red, gave no other sign of the teachings of Palpatine. The boy, clutching the cube to his chest desperately, had been unconscious for almost three hours now, and every now and then, he snarled, mumbled, or even snickered sinisterly. Thrawn didn't know if there was anything he could-or should- do to help the new Emperor.
Unexpectedly, the clone's arm shot forward, sending the crimson cube flying across the dim gallery. With a gasp, he sat up, an exultant grin on his young features. Thrawn snapped to attention, and asked, "My Emperor, are you all right?"
Coming to his feet, the clone replied, "I am Darth Ausar, Lord of the Sith and the new Galactic Emperor. My service is to the Dark Side of the Force, and I am your master."
With a fluid bow, Thrawn returned, " Of course, your Majesty. The entire Imperial Navy is at your command."
Over the next several hours, Thrawn observed Ausar carefully. The boy had retrieved the Holocron, and now carried it constantly. From time to time, his eyes would glaze over, and Thrawn assumed that he was communing with the spirit of Palpatine. There was no other explanation for the sudden rise in Ausar's power. It was as though he was a completely new man. As they traveled through the corridors en route to the audience chamber, a handful of stormtroopers had blazed by, shouting swear words and wielding various foods. The Emperor was not amused.
Raising his hand, he called out for the troops to stop. And they did, seemingly slamming into an invisible wall of air. He commanded them to march back to the mess hall, an order which they obeyed as though mesmerized. Following them, he strode into the mess hall, where an immense food fight was raging.
"THIS IS THE VERY REASON THAT THE REBELS HAVE THE UPPER HAND!" roared the boy-leader. The troops froze in mid-throw, mid-duck, and mid-shout, turning to stare at the Sith.
Having their attention, Ausar lowered his voice. "Discipline among the troops must be maintained. I demand the identities of the men who began this disgraceful skirmish, as well as their direct superiors."
Three troops stepped forward and saluted, and Thrawn could see them shaking. One stepped forward and recited, " I am #TK-831, and I got into an argument with #DM-586 and #TK-449. It is my fault."
Two officers joined the troops, and one of them said, "We are the commanders of the TK and DM squadrons."
The Emperor grinned widely. "The rest of you will miss your lunches for the next two weeks, and clean up this mess immediately. You five, follow me." Curious, Thrawn tagged along as Ausar led the five to the galley.
"There is no excuse for improper bahavior. May I ask you, commanders, why your men did not behave themselves in a manner as befitting a soldier of my Empire?"
One of the commanders- a lean-faced young man with dark skin- stammered, "Y-your Empire?"
"I am Darth Ausar, your new Emperor. I have been endowed with all of the authority of Palpatine." Strolling to a droid cook, the young Sith commanded, "A batch of the spiciest food you can create, enough for six people."
What use would Ausar have for spicy food? Thrawn frowned, and leaned down to murmur into the Emperor's ear, "Are you going to punish these men?"
Narrowing his eyes, Ausar replied, "Are you stupid? Of course I am. Watch and learn, Admiral."
It was not long before the food- a bright red snack called eeyow- was placed before the Emperor. Taking it to a counter, he divided the long, thin strips into six portions. Thrawn had heard of eeyow, but never tried it. He had heard of people losing their sense of taste just from a nibble of it.
"We will eat these one piece at a time. Anyone who can eat it all is free to go, the pain of the food being their only punishment. If you can't eat it all, you will have it force-fed to you, as well as three weeks of solitary confinement- with your only food being this." Regarding the crispy snack, he continued, "If I cannot eat all of my portion, all five of you are free to go. This is known as a Game of Darkness."
Swallowing, the five men began to sweat.
Before long, one officer and two of the troops had fainted, and Ausar was left playing his game with the dark-skinned officer and #TK-831. Most of his eeyow was gone, and he was currently pinching his nose, seemingly having trouble with his sinuses.
831 was hissing in pain, clutching his mouth and sweating rivers. The officer was trying desperately to stop his bleeding nose. Both of them had eaten nearly three-fourths of their snack, and they seemed as though they would win.
Thrawn was engrossed in downing an entire liter of milk, having tried a piece of the eeyow left by one of the unconscious men- and decided quickly that he didn't like it. The three men left in the game must have had tongues of durasteel.
Ausar lifted another stick of eeyow, and closing his eyes, shoved it into his molars. One quick chomp, and he swallowed. Thrawn recognized his technique as being used to avoid contact with the tongue.
The officer's turn consisted of nothing less than absolute hilarity. Sniffing blood back up his nose, the man tried to replicate the Emperor's technique, but was too hasty. The crispy strip went down the wrong way, and Thrawn observed as the officer cried out in anguish as he began to choke on the hot food. The trooper's fist shot out, punching the man in the gut, who coughed out the remnants of his eeyow, and fainted.
"Just you and me, now," the Emperor panted. "I'm surprised you made it this far."
Gasping for breath, the trooper responded with, "I've always won eating competitions."
"I mean you've gotten this far without finding a poisoned piece."
Freezing, TK-831 whimpered, "Poison?"
Nodding, the Emperor continued, "That's why all of them are on the floor. Did you think that you were really that much stronger than them?"
"Well, I-" Nervously, the troop stared at his eeyow. "Um, is your Najesty's eeyow poisoned, too?"
"What sort of game would it be otherwise?"
His hand shaking, TK-831 abruptly fell unconscious.
With a triumphant smirk, Ausar grabbed the remaining handful of eeyow and crammed it down his throat. Gaping, Thrawn asked, "How did you-"
"He became afraid of it. If you don't allow yourself to fear it, you can do anything." Wiping the red crumbs from his lips, Ausar gestured at the fallen men. "Send them to solitary confinement with only eeyow for food for the next three weeks. They must learn self-control."
"But wasn't their eeyow poisoned?"
"Of course not. I don't waste valuable men- or poison, for that matter." Thumbing the side of the Holocron, he rose from his seat. "Now I will return to the gallery. Showing myself to the remainder of the men can wait. My master wishes to speak with me."