Thank you for your comments for the last chapter!

Hope that you are happy and healthy.

Chapter 26

Harry sat calmly with her eyes closed at one of the tables reserved for officers, relishing in the extra strong caf she had coaxed from the cantina server. In the background, she listened to people murmuring and talking loud to each other. Some laughter and joyous shouts from somewhere behind towards the right to her where the troopers preferably sat eating their meals. Tableware cluttering, knives scraping against plates, drinks being slurped. If she did not know it any better, she could as well be on earth as the cantina background noise was all too similar. But she was not on her home planet. And the caf, as strong as this was supposed to be, had nothing too bitter aroma of her favourite morning expresso. She sighed. What would she give to drink true, aroma rich, Italian espresso right now? Harry kept her eyes firmly shut willing her memory to conjure up. She just wanted to wallow in this positive memory before she would continue with her stale standard Imperial meal. Some special tasteless soup and an unidentifiable heap of greyish mass that she was supposed to eat for her strength. Doctors orders. She doubted that she could stomach that greyish slurp.

Even though he had finally cleared her today. Four days after she had been first released from the medical ward. Naturally, she had immediately tried her luck with Faro again, who Harry could swear to have heard mutter "Not you again" under her breath. It was probably not in her best interest to annoy Faro, but she wanted off this Destroyer for a bit. And this mission, was perfect to explore how far she could push Thrawn and get his trust back. Well, alright a contradiction at first glance, but perhaps not as much as it seemed.

Well, Faro had cursed her beyond the Unknown Regions, when she had found that Harry had used her four extra days appropriately and practically spammed her with complete mission plan proposals which planed for several contingencies. Her annoyance with her had certainly hit the roof of her office when she had presented them to her. Yet, Faro had finally greenlit the mission, probably to get finally rid of her, but warned her with the same breath that if it went south, then it would be on her head. Her eyebrow had risen when Harry had not been able to suppress her elation and broken into a happy grin. A few more hours until her mission. A mission that would be led by her. A mission that would be her responsibility. Harry gulped back some raising nervousness. She could not fail. That moon's surface was merciless. One wrong command and all could go wrong. No pressure, right?

Harry became aware that somebody sat down opposite of her and opened her eyes. Well, two people. One was familiar. The female Ensign from the combat crew who reminded her of Cho-Chang. Having looked her up she knew that her real name was Ensign Zhìnéng and she hailed from Coruscant.

"Hope it's fine that we are sitting with you." she inquired with a winning smile that Harry felt compelled to return.

"You are the first today friendly face I've seen today, Ensign. So, I'd be a fool to turn you away." she answered mustering the fair freckled female sitting down next to Ensign Zhìnéng who eagerly smiled at her, but Harry's neck hair straightened. Some strands of fire red locks had escaped her cap. Knowing emerald green eyes were staring back into hers. It made her uneasy.

Following her gaze, the Coruscanti introduced her companion as a new transfer from the Royal Academy from Coruscant, Ensign Triss.

"So, you are the Grand Admiral's new pet?" the red head inquired coming straight to the point, causing Zhìnéng's jaw to drop. Rude. But straight to the point.

"Ensign Triss?!" Zhìnéng sputtered in surprised embarrassment trying to apologise for her, but Harry just waved it off carefully stretching out her senses. The woman had clearly tested her how she would react, but two could play this game.

"Straight to the point. I like it." Harry grinned trying to gauge Ensign Triss reaction.

"If by pet you mean that I'm his personal aid, then yes." Harry answered calmly, "although I do take offence by being called his pet."

"I'm his aide and the term pet would suggest a personal familiarity which does not exist." Harry told her coolly taking a sip of her caf. "You may be new to the Chimera, but Grand Admiral Thrawn expects everyone to behave professionally and leads by example."

"Well, but you know it is all around the Chimera." Ensign Triss said shrugging apologetically, and Harry shook her head, closing her eyes. She knew exactly what the redhead was referring to. Vanto had warned her that people wanted to harm Thrawn and as her aide she would have to prepare herself for vicious rumours. As she was a woman and Thrawn a male officer, this rumour was bound to surface. As of yet she had thought that she might have dodged that bullet. But she had to stand corrected.

"Funny that they didn't say the same thing about Lt. Commander Vanto." She growled. "He spent years at Thrawn's side after all, and nobody questioned it. Why should this be any different than with Vanto just because I have different sex?"

"Well, there were rumours about him as well" the woman shrugged again, and Harry frowned. "And Lt. Commander Vanto vanished without any trace, and you are female. Thrawn is male. So even you must admit that it is a bit strange that you jumped from Midshipman directly to Lieutenant in such a short amount of time. Now you even spend most of your time with Thrawn, and you seem to feel a bit under the weather. People love gossip. The juicier, the better." She told her winking.

Harry sighed, taking a sip of her bland soup. Admittingly, it did sound bad when you put it that way.

"The last overreaching officer who tried to dab my honey got his ass kicked." She hissed. "Got me detention in the brig for one rotation, but at least I was able to catch some sleep." Zhìnéng tried to hide her grin behind her teapot. "If Thrawn tried, I'd do the same to him."

Ensign Triss snorted: "Famous last words."

"So, for the record. I didn't ask to be promoted, never expected to be promoted. And I'm tired to have to constantly explain that I'm a conscript. Perhaps I should wear a shield saying 'Conscript, don't ask. So, the only thing I actually wanted was to be left alone." Harry complained. Shut your mouth Harry!

"So, that's true then. That you are a conscript. How exciting." She exclaimed with enthusiasm in her voice.

"If you say so." Harry retorted. "Wasn't exciting for me. We usually don't get promoted because we are third rate citizens at best. Just barely above the Wookies." Zhìnéng coughed at that. Her friend kept her focus on Harry. "As to why I was promoted, I'm not sure how much I'm at liberty to say. Perhaps you should ask Crewman Panaká about that."

"Actually, I don't need to. We all know about how you saved her life. It was all over the imperial newscast last rotation. Just couldn't resist baiting you." Ensign Triss told her taking a big bite of her meal and Harry froze. Her eyes bulging. Heat was rising to her cheeks.

"What did you say?" her voice was wavering. Hold it together, Harry. If what Zhìnéng's female friend said was true, then she was well and truly screwed. No turning back now. No possibility to reach the Rebellion unharmed. Was that Thrawn's doing? If yes, then he had one coming. Superior officer or not.

"Well, you know once a week they present particularly exemplary imperial citizens. You were featured as one such new citizen. They said that you came from a newly discovered Star System in the Unknown Regions, only one single habitable planet for humans, heavily overpopulated, enlisted into the Empire, worked yourself up and went ahead to protect the people you were working with by uncovering a serial killer hidden among our ranks. But the rumour before the newscast was that you were conscripted. I have a friend who works at the core who confirmed this, and she said that stories like that sell like hot Alderanian nuts. Especially when the individuals are easy to look at." Harry's eyebrows rose in surprise.

Her appetite was gone. Strict orders or not to eat correctly, this was bad. Very bad. She could feel her ire rise. Thrawn had defeated her. The Empire had defeated her. Pitted her against her own people, so that she would never be able to escape. It also meant that she would be ostracised by her fellow Earthlings, seen as yet another Imperial in line of fire for the Rebels and their allies. With every minute she became dug in deeper.

"Bloody hell, I didn't enlist." Harry cursed deliberately putting the spoon carefully into her bowl and pushing it away from her. She did not want to send it flying through the mess hall and knock out some unfortunate soul that happened to stand in its paths. Not when she was getting better at keeping her power under control. Ok, well four days without a magical accident, but still.

"How far is the reach of that newscast?" she enquired with slightly quivering voice and realised that there was a perfectly good reason why Triss made her uncomfortable.

She shrugged. "Well, it was the official Imperial newscast. So, basically, everywhere, the Empire has a presence in the galaxy, and your story is one that has a higher viewing rate on the holo-net. Especially among male imperial officers." She winked again annoying Harry.

"No!" Harry moaned dramatically and let her head fall onto her lower arm on the table stating dryly.

"Fantastic, the newscast basically made me a wanking device for frustrated male officers. Git." It was even worse than she thought. She was done for. So much for eventually making it to the Rebels. They would probably shoot her at sight right now. Tears were stinging in her eyes. No, she couldn't let her emotions reign her actions. If she wanted to survive this, then she had to pull herself together. Sitting back up again, she took a deep breath and had to set something straight. Triss seemed to be well connected with the people on the core. Her love for gossip appeared to strengthen the idea. Perhaps she could set her records straight. At least on the Chimera.

"First of all, I need the key to the holovid. Second, my cousin was the one who was conscripted. But when the imperials came knocking on our door, I took his place instead. I owed him and his family." She informed her.

"Sounds like enlisting with a twist to me." Ensign Triss said winking again, "but why would he let you take his place? I mean male conscripts are preferred, after all. Was he a …" Well, now she was overdoing it a bit.

"What's wrong with your eye?" Harry asked innocently clasping her fingertips together, and Triss immediately stopped the winking with a confused gaze.

"He wasn't a coward. Far from it, actually." Harry cut her off, taking a few deep breaths to let go of her rising ire. Nobody could demean the Dursleys. Not after everything they had done for her, after everything they had gone through. "He was ready to go, but I wouldn't let them take him. Wasn't that hard to convince the 'recruiting' officer to change his mind. Now that man was the personification of cowardice." Harry told her with a slight sneer.

"Really? How did you do that?" Zhìnéng asked eagerly straightening in her seat, and Harry didn't even fight to suppress the malicious smile that was working herself onto her face now.

"I took out a chunk of his stormtrooper entail to prove that I was the more capable fighter than my cousin," Harry told her with blazing eyes and cheered slightly when both females moved their upper body backwards away from her.

"Ok, change of topic." She eventually said coughing into her gloved hand. "Before this gets more awkward. So, coming back to the rumour that you have something with our commander is just rumour?"

Harry sighed. "Yes, it's just another unsubstantiated rumour. Seriously, have people nothing better to do? He is my superior officer. Nothing more. I spend so much time with Thrawn because he gives me tons of errands to run, data to process and updating him about the progress and he loves lecturing me. But to be fair his lectures are quite enlightening. I've never seen him out of his white uniform and I certainly don't have the urge to ever see him out of it. Thank you very much. For all I know, his reproductive organs could be on his knee."

"Really?" Ensign Zhìnéng asked her. "Because there are quite a few crew members who have a major crush on him."

"You included?!" Harry jested and winked at her, earning a blush. Yep, she is definitely one of the affected.

"I mean he is considered handsome, even for non-human standards and some would not mind getting lucky. If you catch my drift." Triss cut in.

Now it was her to burst into laughter. "Unless they are an ancient artwork of an enemy species he's studying, I doubt that they have any chance in that department." Zhìnéng joined her. "Now that's an interesting picture in my mind. So, he makes love to his artwork?"

"What?!" Harry shrieked earing a few annoyed glances from the adjacent tables, heat rushing up to her cheeks. Great now she had accidentally started another rumour about her superior. "No, No, No, what I meant is that he seems to have no interest in such mundane things. His razor-sharp focus is on defeating the enemies of the Empire by analysing their art."

Zhìnéng continued to laugh. "I'm messing with you sorry. "So, you don't know anything about him? There is so much speculation going around."

"No. He is my superior officer. That's all I need to know." Harry shook her head. "I never thought about stuff like that. Now I'm scarred for life with the mental image you just gave me. Ensign Zhìnéng. Thank you very much. How am I supposed to look him in the eyes now?"

"Oh, come on. People have urges. There is nothing wrong about that." Ensign Triss wiggled her eyebrows again. "Don't tell me that you are immune to that."

Harry sighed again thinking about her past life before the Empire with a pang of her heart. "There are strict regulations in the navy against what you are implying. I certainly was not immune on my home planet, but I hadn't had the urge, as you call it, since before the Empire came to my planet." Ensign Triss' jaw dropped, but Harry could sense that something was severely off about that woman.

"I think that we should have passed the stage of being slaves to our most basic instincts by now."

"Those basic instincts made us the superior species in the galaxy." the annoying red head told her and Harry shook her head again.

"Well, that's highly debatable. Just because the human species can shag themselves ragged like mindless rabbits, doesn't mean that they are superior." Harry told her shrugging her shoulders, while Triss sputtered into her caf. "And you can clearly see evolutions of the other species as well, who adapted to their environment on their planets.

"No, itch? Seriously?" she asked her flabbergasted.

"Nothing that my fingers couldn't handle," Harry answered wryly. "Though, I don't know how tight the ISB surveillance is on this ship and in the Empire on general and how many peeping toms are part of that wretched bureau." Ah, she takes issue with that statement. Triss hand grip tightened on her caf at that statement and Harry could detect some anger. Zhìnéng was just surprised at Harry's audacity.

"So, I would not recommend doing this either. My mind is usually enough. Additionally, to that, I have no desire whatsoever to break half a dozen regulations or catch one or several nasty space STS. Too much drama that I simply have neither time nor patience for. Oh, and most importantly I don't fancy getting one of those hormonal shots that the Empire seems to propose to female officers."

Harry stopped her lecture and contemplated. Ensign Triss was quite good at getting her to talk about personal things about herself or it was the lingering medication in her system. She had to be more careful. Best chance, she was just nosy. Worst case scenario, she was an ISB plant. Considering that she had no idea yet about her true job in the navy, it wasn't a stretch to think that it was possible. She had not been down at the secondary bridge yet, but could imagine, that it would give "Ensign" Triss enough privacy to run her operations without the others finding out.

She narrowed her eyes and leaned back locking eyes with Ensign Triss. "So, how much of this conversation finds its way back to Colonel Yularen, agent Triss, is it? Is that even your real name?"

Her eyes widened, and she sputtered awkwardly. "What are you implying?"

"I think you heard me the first time," Harry told her evenly. She was good. There was no change in her micro-expressions, but her enthusiasm had plummeted. She could sense it. Busted. Zhìnéng's eyes widened, her gaze pinging back and forth between Harry and agent Triss.

"I have to admit, you are excellent at getting people to open up about themselves," Harry told her icily, "but maybe a bit too forward. So, how much of this conversation will find its way back to Colonel Yularen?"

The redhead shook her head and opened her mouth, but no words came out of it. "I… really don't know what you mean." She insisted squirming, her inner discomfort growing, which told Harry everything she needed to know. She leaned back, put her head to the side and smiled knowingly.

"Yeah, you do," Harry told her calmly. "As I said. You are good, I certainly must give credit, where credit is due, but some subtle hints, expressions and gestures gave you away if you know how to look for them. I did gauge your reaction earlier and you just walked into my trap, head-on."

Triss insisted with a dismissive gesture. "I think you are paranoid. I'm an ensign in the Chimera's combat crew!"

"Hm," Harry grunted unimpressed continuing to play with her." An ensign, who has no problem talking privately with a Lieutenant and I'm not exactly as approachable as most of my esteemed colleagues. So, if you are not reporting to Yularen, then that means the highest-ranking ISB officer in our current sector is Agent Kallus. Ah, Agent Kallus, it is." She exclaimed seeing Triss' expression darkened for a second. "As you were recently transferred to this ship, you needed to find a competent officer to show you around. Ensign Zhìnéng was perfect for the task as she is very proficient in what she does, and she is very easy going, and unlike you, she is genuinely interested in the people around her."

"You can't know that." Ensign Triss rebuked with barely repressed anger in her voice. Harry had to give her credit. She was furious, but also slightly afraid of something. But did the ISB superiors warrant such fears? Perhaps fearful of repercussions? Or was it something else? She could not put a finger on it.

"Yes, I do. Her body language and her micro-expressions are consistent with what she says and display genuine interest." Harry lectured her calmly. "Your micro-expressions, however, are forced. Your smile doesn't reach your eyes and your body language is exaggerated as if you needed to push yourself to appear interested."

Harry took a deliberate sip from her mug for show, even though it was already empty. "She is a team-player who knows that a crew that gets on like a house on fire is a crew that can perform best. I've seen her and her crew work together first-hand during a battle. It was very impressive work. Thrawn even recommended them for promotion which had for some reason been denied by the High Command."

"Really?" Zhìnéng asked clearly astonished about this information edging away from Ensign Triss.

"Really," Harry confirmed remembering peeking at the list of recommendations from his officers from the edge of her sight a few months ago.

"So." Harry nudged Zhìnéng's hand. "Continue to work with your team as well as you have but keep your private matters to yourselves. Better warn your crew about her." Thinking about what had happened to Baila, she locked her stern gaze with "Ensign" Triss.

"Oh and should anything happen to Ensign Zhìnéng after this conversation, I can tell you I don't have much power, but what I do have are a very particular set of skills. Skills I have acquired over a very long career on my home planet. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my friend here alone, that will be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you, but if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will eliminate you."

"That's not how it works." the woman stood up. "Your little bravado here means nothing. Besides, you have no proof of me being an ISB Agent, Lt. Potter." Ensign Triss spat her chest heaving which stood in stark contrast to the calm demeanour Agent Triss wanted to convey. Did I overdo it? Her gaze was hard, but Harry could sense that her heart was racing.

Harry grinned calmly and clasped her fingertips around her cup, lowering her voice. "What you call bravado, is a friendly warning. You won't get another one as for proof. I have all the proof I need. It's not the first time I uncovered an undercover ISB agent. Your cover won't be hard to find if I know what to look for."

"Good luck with that." the redhead taunted Harry with a haughty grin as if she knew something that Harry did not yet, but she ignored it.

"As I said, of course, your behaviour did give it away. It's blatantly clear that you do personally like Ensign Zhìnéng because she comes from the Inner Rim and that you consider citizens coming from the Outer Rim and beyond, like me, as scum. Tangible proof, however, as I said, can always be found if one knows where to look. To conclude this lovely conversation, I planned to have a little one on one with Agent Kallus anyway. So, this should be a fascinating chat."

Harry stood up and nodded at Zhìnéng with a smile. "Zhìnéng, it was a pleasure seeing you again. Now, if you'll excuse me. I've a Lambda to catch. See you around."

She turned around and made her way through the different tables of the cantina yet could still hear Zhìnéng mutter. "Guess we found out why she's Thrawn's aide."

But her shuttle wasn't due to depart until the night circle, which would begin in five hours. So, that gave her ample time to get all the proof she needed in case Agent Triss would try to get rid of it. And if agent Triss was really stationed here to spy on the Chimera, then she could disrupt their daily routines. It would place this crew in danger as she could sow division and put the entire Star Destroyer into jeopardy. And if Agent Kallus had placed her here, then the implications were numerous as well. Well, it could just be standard procedure, but she suspected that Agent Kallus might have a problem with Thrawn as well. Perhaps he had a problem with non-humans in general, or maybe it had something to do with Thrawn's investigation on the Rebels. He did have an abysmal track record with the Rebels, even though his actions showed that he usually was competent in his plans, but that failed mission on Genosis stood out from that track record. Well, for her and Thrawn at least. And as Faro had finally relented and agreed to her task, it seemed that they were now three who could see that something was amiss.

Harry sighed, checking her gear, that she had ordered once more before she would meet with Commander Othello's squad and brief them in detail about their mission. As some local insurgents had stalled Lieutenant Yogar Lyste's departure on his light cruiser, where he would act as acting captain, they would still reconvene with them. Of course, she had looked him up and even couldn't understand how that ambitious man had managed to get the command of a light cruiser, especially after his massive failure to adequately protect the Alderaanian dignitary Princess Leia Organa and her Sphyrna-class corvettes. That failure should have gotten him a black mark or a demotion, but apparently, he had friends in high places. But it could also be that Lyste, who was charged with overseeing the planet's imports and exports, as well as regulating, maintaining, and distributing products from local Imperial-controlled industries was actually capable, yet had been unlucky. When she read through his report again, she had to admit, gravity locks, walkers and stormtrooper detachments should have done the trick, but this almost reeked like an inside job. The question was who the traitor had been.

When she had investigated the dignitary, she had remembered that she had crossed paths with her already. The young apprentice legislator who had smiled at her when she had put one of her colleagues down a peg or two. There had been something about her, that she still could not place. Something familiar tugging at her, but whatever it was, now was not time to dwell on that. She had a mission to lead and ponder about agent Triss' non-existent file later.

On the periphery of her sight, she spotted movement and exhaled slowly. Her squad was here early. Harry contemplated. She knew how to conduct a mission briefing. The protocol, according to the imperial naval handbook, was exact. But it did not sit well with her. She wanted to try something else. This mission depended on perfectly coordinated teamwork. They all needed to trust each other, or things could go south very quickly. Her Terran colleagues certainly would understand what she was trying to do. Hell, she even put her trust in Longbottom, as hard as it was for her. Fighting her negative memories that threatened to surface whenever she had to deal with him. But they had already protected her from discovery when she had been ill. Longbottom was right. They could not continue to fight each other, and she was willing to banish those memories for the time being to the deepest depth of her mind. They had a common enemy now. This mission was hers to lead. So, she would lead it on her terms. Imperial handbook be damned.

After a short acknowledgement, she ordered their pilot to close the ramp and join them for the final briefing. Although it became stuffed in the shuttle quickly, the tall pilot joined them shortly. He also was already wearing his flight suit and his helmet.

"Alright, gather round in a circle or as close to a circle as you can manage please," she ordered them, stretching out her senses. Yep, here the confusion starts—the first breach of protocol. The squad was supposed to remain in formation. Forming a circle was not part of that formation. While her fellow wizards were eager to follow her orders, they still waited for their superior officer to acknowledge. After all. She was navy, not army. The line of command was clear. Commander Othello acknowledged it, and they gathered in a circle. Perfect. Now, to the next breach of protocol.

"Thank you." Harry clasped her hands behind her back. "Next, I would please ask you to remove your helmets for the duration of the briefing." There was even more confusion, and she could even detect some defiance from a few troopers. The pilot seemed to ponder if this was a test.

"With all due respect, Lieutenant" Commander Othello responded "but this is highly irregular and against protocol. Imperial Troopers and Pilots are not allowed to remove their helmets. That's protocol." There were some nods from troopers beside him, and even the pilot agreed.

"I'm aware of the protocol, Commander," Harry told him calmly. "I'm also aware that the Empire has this protocol to dehumanise its personnel that way. It is easier sending faceless drones to their death than the capable humans hiding under their helmets."

A shock ran through the room. They certainly were not used to hear such blatant disrespect about the Empire. Even less from an officer, but she could not care less now. If she could get through to them, they might perform better during this mission.

"This mission we are about to embark on is first and foremost a recovery mission, and I'm aware that you've already been briefed about it by reading the mission logs and I will brief you in more detail as soon as we depart. But this mission can quickly turn sour and might become extremely dangerous," she explained calmly. "We all need to trust each other and work together if we want this mission to go well. I want to see all your faces, and I also want you too to see each other's faces, so that we can all see what is at stake here. It is not the faceless soldiers that can be discarded. It is every single one of you serving in their armour or flight suit that should make it back alive and well."

Had she overdone it? She was not sure. But the earlier shock had evaporated. Some of the troopers felt numb. That was disconcerting. Had their brainwashing been that effective that their minds shut down?! The pilot felt calm, yet she when she focused on him, she could detect warmth spreading through his being, that ended… Nope. Luckily, his flight suit hid that tightness. She mentally shuddered, quickly detaching her sense from him and focusing onto the troopers again. Clearly, this one had watched that wretched Holo-vid. Most of them waited patiently how their commander would react, Longbottom, Creevy and Finnegan standing right next to her radiated impatient amusement, telling her that they knew exactly what she had tried to do. But the commander was battling with himself. I think I just broke him.

But then she could sense that something in him seemed to click, and his determination grew. He was giving her the benefit of the doubt. A moment later, the commander took off his helmet, followed one by one by the pilot and the troopers following his example.

Harry felt pride swell in her breast. Their eleven individual faces were such a stark contrast to the soulless helmets they usually wore. She made a point to lock her eyes with every single one of them. The regal dark face of Commander Othello, followed by the grinning round-faced Longbottom, the cheeky smirk of Finnigan, followed by a nod from Creevy, another sandy brown stormtrooper with quite a scar marring his left cheek, another blond trooper who was shuffling uncomfortably before locking his eyes with hers. One by one they returned her gaze and Harry suddenly became aware that she was the only woman on this mission.

The tall blond pilot was smirking at her, his high cheeks giving him an almost elven look. Harry almost expected him to have pointy ears. Every single trooper she locked eyes with returned her smile. So, they still were able to mirror her behaviour. They were still human enough. Luckily, no psychopath among her team. That was a relief. Even commander Othello's stoic face showed a friendly glint.

"Alright, then. It's a pleasure working together with you on this mission."

Looking forward to your comments (including about "Ensign/Agent Triss.")