Sitting in a chair before the desk in Thrawn's office was definitely a new experience, especially considering Ezra wasn't a prisoner to be interrogated by the Grand Admiral. Another new experience, but one decidedly less welcome, was the carnage he had seen on holorecordings just a few minutes earlier after the Chiss had asked for him.
Sitting next to the young Padawan was the highest ranked engineer that survived, and both of them were currently waiting who would speak first now that the recordings of these black furred beasts slaughtering everyone they came across and carving deep gauges into the Star Destroyer's corridors had finished playing.
"These beasts are a very curious breed." Thrawn finally spoke up as he leaned forward to better examine the last frame of the recording. "They do not seem to kill out of hunger, and they seem to have a dislike for technology as well. Officer Narrios, how likely do you think it is for these beasts to breach through the blast doors before your men have finished repairs on the Hypercom?"
"Well Sir, seeing as crucial replacement parts are stored in the engineering levels, which are beneath where theses beasts are, I would assume they might get through before we starve." The engineer responded to the Admirals inquiry.
"That is unfortunate." Thrawn replied before turning to face Ezra. "Padawan Bridger, is it with in your powers to direct these animals like you coordinated the Purrgils against my fleet?"
"I am not sure." Ezra responds before explaining hesitantly. "I have never seen creatures like them before, so I would have to try it out before I can say for sure."
"Of course. Would you do us all the favor of trying it out, preferably before noon?" The Chiss inquires of the young Jedi. "Of course not without an escort of some kind."
"I will see what I can do." Ezra responds, still a bit unsure how to handle working with a crew of Imperials.
"Good, tell one of the troopers outside to assemble a squad to escort you and then make your way to one of the blast doors separating us from these creatures." Thrawn instructed the young padawan, much like he would have one of his officers. "If you succeed, contact officer Narrios here to arrange a meetup with another squad of troopers and one of the engineers to make your way to the engineering levels and find the needed replacement parts." The Chiss concludes before dismissing Ezra with a wave of his hand.
After leaving the office, he turns to one of the troopers standing ready at the door.
"Buck- I mean trooper, the Grand Admiral wants one of you to gather a squad of troopers and follow me to one of the blast doors separating us from the monsters."
After letting out a groan, one of them stepped forward, mumbling about ranks under his breath as he waved for the boy to follow him to the barracks. Only a few corridors from the office they reached one of the rooms used to house the survivors of the crash landing.
"Hey Cayn, Dev and Molan, get out here we've got something to do." The trooper that had escorted Ezra simply shouted into the room. After a series of grumbling from inside, and a few moments of waiting, another three stormtroopers stepped outside.
"Where to Boss" They asked the man that had called them outside.
"Towards those nasty beasts that have infested most of the ship, we are to escort the Jedi as he tries to do something about them."
With that exchange the troopers get moving silently, followed closely by Ezra.
Because all the turbolifts had been sealed along with the blast doors, reaching their destination took nearly an hour, but thanks to various emergency access hatches and walkways, they managed to reach the closest of the doors separating the survivors from the invasive native fauna.
"Okay, just in case this goes horribly wrong." Ezra begins to instruct the men accompanying him. "I want one of you ready to close the next set of balstdoors while the rest of you aim at where the monsters might come from."
Watching the troopers comply with his orders was definitely something Ezra had not expected to see a few days ago, but in situations like these, it didn't really matter on which side of the civil war you fell, all of them just wanted to survive to get of this planet.
Just a moment later, all of them had taken positions, just like the Padawan had instructed them and were ready for most things that could happen next. Ezra himself sat down on the floor cross legged and closed his eyes. Focusing on the world around him, the young Jedi stretch out his senses with the aid of the Force. First he noticed the soldiers close by, all of them nervous about what would happen next.
As he pushed further, he felt blotches of emotion on the other side of the blast door. Assuming them to be the animals that had slaughtered most of the crew, he tried to touch one of theses blobs, his own mind calm and focused. But as he made the connection to the beast, he was overwhelmed by the hatred, anger and sheer wish for destruction emanating of the monster as a loud, strangely Lothwolf like howl echoed through the corridors. Moments later, the clanging of bone against metal prompted the boy to open his eyes, and what he saw made him jump up in shock.
The blast door in front of him and the troopers had a dent the size of a Stormtrooper's helmet. Even as he and the men with him began to scramble for the next set of blast doors, the dull clanging sounded again as a second dent was left in the door.
"Close the blast door." The Padawan shouted at the stunned trooper manning the door controls, who was ripped out of his shock by the boys shut and proceeded to close the door as his comrades stumbled through.
"Contact Thrawn. Connecting with these things through the Force: bad idea, very very bad idea."
Nodding one of the Stormtroopers activated his comm to relay the padawans message as they began their accent through the ship's command tower, back to the area the survivors had made themselves at home in the evening before.
And that's Ezra's first Encounter with the Grimm wrapped up. I hope you all enjoyed.
Once again, thanks to all those who already reviewed/followed/faved.
Also still waiting for someone to read what the cover art reads.
