Chapter Nine

Fall of the Aristocra

Ari'nitan'colgrana knew what she needed to do. She was aware of the promises she'd made to Ra'slone and the conviction with which she'd roused the Chiss forces before battle. Now that they'd won, the time had come to confront the Aristocra.

The time had come to betray her father.

She could not hesitate now. Not as she marched in tandem with the Empire leader herself and thirty soldiers of each species trailing them on both sides. If Arin was to assert dominance over the new order, she could not show a single weakness. Everything about this meeting had to be perfect.

The gleam of the Great General's pin reflected the rays of their morning star. Anyone who looked directly at Arin's lapel would be blinded by the sight. Her navy hair and silver cape flew free behind her in the stinging wind, slapping the humans' translation machine often. By all rights, she was the spitting image of power. But in Ascendancy gray next to Ra'slone's white, her burning nerves next to the human's cool confidence, Arin felt like a pretender. A young girl dressed in her mother's clothes while feigning an impression of adulthood.

Upon hearing of the battle, the Aristocra had not cared that the combined forces won. Rather, they cared that the battle had been unauthorized. The council had demanded all Chiss participants gather before them to face trial. Arin, using Kenitt as a messenger, had agreed to their terms on the condition she brought a few friends in with her. It was the first time she'd signed her true name to the usurpers' cause, though she was no stranger.

"We are here, Ra'slone. The Aristocra is meeting inside this hall. They wish to punish their soldiers who participated in our battle."

Arin waited for the machine to convert her words. When Ra'slone said something back, she listened with interest. "'When we are done here, the soldiers will be not of the Aristocra, but of yours. You brought our peoples together. You commanded these troops in Csilla's first victory. You deserve leadership more than any fool inside.'"

"Thank you for your support, Ra'slone. With your Empire's help, power shall belong to those willing to fight for our lives."

The older woman nodded, an alien glint to her eye. Inhaling one last time, Arin threw the doors open and led the charge into the seat of Chiss power. Only the council sat inside at this hour, and each member went silent as dozens and dozens of armed soldiers fanned out into the chamber. They formed a protective ring around Arin and Ra'slone with near flawless coordination. The generals of the Aristocra rose in protest, eyes alight with anger and alarm.

Arin fixed her gaze on the council chair, doing her utmost to ignore the man standing to his immediate right. "These are not all the soldiers you wished to see, Chairman. More wait outside these halls, eager to hear what the results of our meeting will be."

The Chairman narrowed his eyes. "Little Nitan. Your words of defiance shocked the Aristocra. Mere days ago, you sat among us at your father's side. Ari'ncoltan'colgrana faced questioning last night when we received your reply. Tell me: what new trick is this? Is this your new way of seeking our attention? You wear the clothes of our former leaders to mock us into taking reckless action?"

Arin flinched in annoyance at the machine's constand translations occurring behind her. She had to keep her head in the moment. "I do nothing of the sort. I fight for Csilla with those who still know what it means to be Chiss. I brought them the allies you rejected and took our first step toward ridding the planet of enemies. I come before you as a courtesy. Comply with the new order or face the consequences."

"You dare threaten the Aristocra? You address yourself by our family name as if you were a member of this council, but you are really a spoiled child, and that is my fault. Nitan, you know naught of what is out there in the galaxy. You think one small battle is all it takes to wear the clothes of a general? Don't be so vain." Her father berated her. "You cannot take action in the name of all Chiss. The Aristocra swore never again to name a Great General from among their members, and you are not a member."

Arin knew all this, of course. Her family had earned a permanent seat on the council centuries ago. Before her father sat where he did now, the position had belonged to Arin's mother, Csilla's last Great General. She'd been tasked with the containment of Mnggal-Mnggal's threat only to die several years ago in an attempt to do just that. Since her failure, the council had been at a permanent loss for what to do, each new idea attempted with only a halfhearted demeanor.

That is, until the Empire showed up. Arin had worked with the faction seeking to subvert the Aristocra before, but only upon witnessing the Aristocra's spurning of allies had she taken them seriously. With these humans at her side, Arin had the chance to not only free Csilla of its disease and lethargy, but to claim the power she'd fantasized so much about as a girl.

Her mother had worn the pin of a Great General. Arin was destined to do the same. There was only one thing left standing in her way.

She really had to sell this one. Not just for the council or her soldiers, but for herself as well. "I do not don these clothes by choice. For both me and you, Father, this uniform holds painful memories. But now that the Chiss people know how to fight Mnggal Mnggal, it is imperative that we must. The Aristocra refused to be a part of that fight when it spurned the Empire as our allies. I stepped in only when I saw this body fail, knowing that our people deserve better. My loyalty to fellow Chiss and belief in our order is dear to me, but so too is our future. I cannot allow the Aristocra's feeble thinking to lead us into extinction.

"The Chiss who fought in our battle yesterday have agreed they answer to me. The Empire supports my ascension to Great General and will assist us as we eradicate this sickness from our world. Step aside, Father. Allow me to take your place on the Aristocra council so that the title may be properly bestowed. I feel far too much respect for this body to simply name myself."

Coltan's eyes flashed, enraged by his daughter's demands of him. The chair of the council shook his head, though the rest of the council finally seemed to be coming to a realization about why so many armed soldiers were in the room with them. "Your fantasies have gone to your head, Nitan. I am the only Arin with a right to use our name in this way. You will not take my place until the day that I am dead."

Arin feared this would happen. In the moment, she felt a sense of dread. Her father had done the best he could with her. Before her mother's death, she'd respected him as a pillar of strength and a source of wisdom. After the death, he had become understandably depressed, frustrated with his inability to fulfill his mate's legacy. Until recently, Arin's sympathy for him had put limits on her ambition.

No longer.

"I foresaw things would end this way. This is your own fault, Ari'ncoltan'colgrana." Arin reached for the part of the belt her cape worked to obscure, the two Chiss soldiers closest to her ready to contain any resulting damage to the building.

"Don't speak to your elders that way, you impotent-"

Arin leapt forward with a weapon in each hand. First she shot her father straight in the heart with a Chiss blaster, then she burned his corpse with a human flamethrower. She watched with cruel fascination as his clothing and skin caught first, quickly giving way to the flesh underneath.

The chairman scampered away from the blaze. Several Aristocra members screamed in anger at the sight. Some called for guards, but no one came. Where the Aristocra had been furious, the remnants of the Ascendancy had been impressed. Not everyone was on board with the new order, of course, but they understood it was better than waiting around for double death, and Arin's initial success was enough to convince the guards to wait somewhere other than the wings for this morning's meeting.

As the flames on Coltan's body spilled over onto wood, Arin's and Ra'slone's two front soldiers sprung into action. The pair doused the fire in a matter of seconds, leaving the charred corpse in the middle of the chamber for everyone to see. Behind them, fourteen Chiss guns were pointed outwards accompanied by fourteen flamethrowers. The threat was clear.

Arin waited for a hushed silence to fall over the older Chiss, holding her two weapons up by her shoulders and working furiously to contain her shaking. "The day of my father's death has come. A disease related to Mnggal-Mnggal, he was afflicted with indecision and misery which left him unable to fight for our people. Now that he is no longer chained to a mortal life of pain, he may join my mother in the heaven of those who've truly left us for safer skies.

"Since he is gone and I am here, I will take his place on the Aristocra council. I bring a renewed Ascendancy on the heels of our first victory to the table along with the backing of allies who have proven crucial. Due to the unique nature of the situation and the severity of Mnggal-Mnggal's threat, I request the council name me Great General so that I may forgo some peacetime procedures in our time of need."

"'It is true. The humans of the Empire have agreed to stand with our wartime friend and the forces who've supported behind her. We will give flametossing aid to no other candidate.'" Ra'slone promised, just as she'd said she would. It was a great return to the investment of allowing her humans to use the liberated fuel reserve at will and recruit among the Chiss for future joint operations.

The chairman walked slowly back towards Arin. Disgusted, he handed her his gavel and nodded towards the pin on her chest. His next words were spoken quickly at a volume barely above a whisper. "You are a heartless traitor and fool, little Nitan. I will lie in wait for the day this Empire betrays you. Your power is an illusion, albeit a helpful one. In our times of desperation, it seems our people will accept even you as a symbol of their hope. Even if you can prevent our extinction, will you prevent our enslavement?" He stepped back. In a louder and slower voice, he said, "I cede my power to you. May Great General Arin lead us back to our former greatness."

"Lead us back to glory, Great General." The elders of the council echoed, faces pale from the threat of execution.

This was how things had to be. Arin had wanted power, and now she had it. She had the knowledge of how to drive Mnggal-Mnggal from her planet and the means to do so. With the ability to drive the disease back, life could go back to how it was for the Chiss. They could grow food and have children again. No longer would they force the less privileged to survive on scraps. No longer would their emergency reserves made for harsh winters and crop failure be looted and empty.

No longer.

Just as Arin's thoughts turned to what else was no longer with her, she felt a reassuring touch on her shoulder. The gesture was from Ra'slone. "'Congratulations, ally. I look forward to our more fighting together.'" She handed the younger female a small communication device. "'We will install far range communing on your planet so that you may always speak with me.'"

Arin turned her mind away from the smell of burn in the air, putting her still-hot flamethrower away to accept the device. "Thank you, Empire leader. We will keep our promises to each other."

Change happened quickly after that morning. If Chiss were not eager about the change in leadership, at least they were too tired and resigned to fight it. No one dared mention how Arin had wrested power from the Aristocra, mostly because they couldn't believe it.

Many more Chiss soldiers and families than Arin expected (including Kenitt, who'd been freed from custody after the Aristocra meeting by Arin's order) agreed to follow the humans away from Csilla and to bring their belongings with them, but the majority refused to budge. Like her, they wanted to reclaim Csilla and remained suspicious of extraterrestrial conquest.

It was an odd day, organizing a new order on Csilla. Everywhere Arin went, Ra'slone accompanied her to the point Arin was starting to connect human words to their Cheunh counterpart. Giving the same speech over and over had that effect.

It was sunset when Ra'slone was about to leave. Arin still had one last thing to offer her. One last secret her father had divulged to her in complete confidence with the belief Arin would never compromise its safety. But Arin had promised this Empire a navigator. They had delivered their ends of the bargain and would not appreciate if Arin did not honor hers.

Kenitt would have to watch over the child from now on.


Rae Sloane was delighted with how well this day had gone for her cause. She thought she'd received every boon the newly hopeful Chiss had to offer until Arin led her, Kenitt, and AP-9 alone into a dark corridor of the Aristocra's building. She entered an elaborate pattern into a complex lock on the door, opening the door to reveal… a small girl?

"Who is this child?"

Something must have gone wrong with the translation in the reply that followed. "'A Chiss navigator, as was promised. She is the last of the Skywalkers, only recently discovered to have the third sight. She will guide you through this region of the galaxy for several years to come.'"

A child would lead them through the galaxy? What sort of fresh madness was this? "What is this third sight you speak of?"

"'A connection to the greater picture of life in our universe. I do not understand it myself, but her powers are innate from birth. They give her the ability to…'" AP-9 trailed off in the explanation. "Why, Grand Admiral! I think this Chiss is describing the Force."

Well. That explained the lack of a nav computer in all the Chiss craft that had been transported to the Eclipse. And here she just thought they'd all been scrapped. Sloane didn't understand how the Force could guide a craft through the galaxy, but she also didn't understand how Vader used to be able to choke people through a holo projection.

"And you're offering this child to the Empire?" No one left in the Empire would take well to a Force sensitive alien child. Already, Sloane knew that. If she were to use this child's talents, it would have to be in complete secret.

In that moment, Kenitt finally recovered enough from shock to speak. "'You want me to watch over this Skywalker, Arin?'"

As for the girl, she'd been eyeing Sloane with fascination since the minute the admiral walked in. "'You're not Chiss. What are you?'"

Arin took the girl (hardly more than a toddler) by the hand to explain the situation. By the time she reached the end, Arin said, "'you're finally going to serve the Ascendancy by joining our human friends on their ship. Remember those visions you had that marked you special?'"

"'Yes.'"

The new Chiss leader took a tome from the shelf behind her and handed it over to Kenitt. "'You will use your power to take this human wherever she wants to go. The knowledge in this text will teach you what your ancestors cannot. While you are there, your people will protect you from any harm.'"

Kid looked like she was about to cry. "'I can't stay with you and Arin anymore? Nitan!'"

"'No, Rah'na. You can't. I promised these humans. But you'll still be with Chiss. See, this is Krav'kenitt'itaawn.'"

Rah'na started to bawl. "Nitan!"

"'Your third sight gives you great responsibility, Rah'na. You must do your duty to the Ascendancy and travel with Kenitt here.'"

"Kenitt, you will call this child your daughter when we are on board my ship. I am the only one you can tell of this girl or her powers," Sloane stated, dubious of how she would use this gift. After much more pleading, the group of four finally led the small Chiss out of her holding cell.

This act of naive sincerity on Arin's part was the final touch for Sloane. Arin was a good woman from what Sloane could tell. She would have made a great leader with more experience. But desperation had pushed her into a hasty, reckless alliance, one which Sloane intended to milk all that she could out of. So long as Arin showed no ambition for conquering outside Csilla and let Sloane command the Chiss on board the Eclipse, the two would get on just fine.

But if those conditions changed, Sloane would remind her vassal of how quickly she'd come to power… and how quickly it could be taken away.


A/N's: I know it's been a while since I updated, and yes, I wrote most this chapter tonight. But I wanted to make sure I closed this arc out on a good note, and to do that, I had to invent some more details re: Arin's backstory and Chiss politics.

The reason Arin goes by Arin (her family name) instead of Nitan (which others call her, and would follow the Chiss naming conventions outlined in the Thrawn books) is because to go by her family name has connotations of power, such as membership to the Aristocra. Upon joining the Chiss rebels (not fully until recently), she used the name as a reminder of her status and a way to claim she could give the movement legitimacy. Due to her role as the Doña Marina of Csilla, she gains the trust of Rae Sloane, who agrees to help her take over post-battle because the Empire gets way more out the deal than the Chiss do.

As for the bit about the Great General, I decided the Aristocra would be similar to the Roman Senate in that they declared temporary dictators in times of crisis. By taking her seat on the council with patricide (a common practice in the First Order), she can enjoy dictator status as she rallies Csilla behind her to burn Mnggal-Mnggal off the planet. Which they do, though I may never come back to Csilla directly.

Next up, as voted by AO3 people, is hijinks with the Hux family. Kid stormtroopers are all kinds of wonderful, aren't they?

Hope you enjoyed the arc, thanks for reading, leave your thoughts below, and I will see you on the far side!