Hello everyone, so we're back.
So, it's been quite a while since my last update. A lot has happened, Ascendancy's over a year old, the Mandalorian came out, The Clone Wars is back, Zahn is writing The Ascendancy Trilogy (we had a good laugh over that believe me) and a cinematic dumpster fire capped off the Sequel Trilogy. I'm sorry about the long hiatus, but I'll talk more about that later. For now you're no doubt dying to get your hands on the chapter, so I won't delay any further.
The lurch of the seat and the thrumming of the engines was the only indication that the Lambda class shuttle had lifted off the hanger deck as they began to descend down towards the planet. Strapped into some crash webbing, Ezra leaned forward in his chair and stared down at the floor, avoiding eye contact with the myriad of Imperial personnel surrounding him. Thrawn was seated directly across from him with Faro to his left and four Death Troopers to his right. Beside Ezra sat Captain Ayer, with Stormtroopers and the three Royal Guards filling the remaining seats.
"I have the last report from Captain Pellaeon, the alien ships have finally entered the inner system. I've told him to assume hostile action if we don't contact him within three standard hours and given him a list of military targets to negate."
"Very good Commodore. Though I doubt that the Narivan have anything ill planned for us, still it doesn't hurt to take precautions."
Faro nodded and tucked away her datapad as Thrawn turned to the Stormtroopers.
"Captain, you and your men are to set their weapons to stun. This is a diplomatic mission, if there is an incident we cannot not afford inflicting casualties."
"Aye Sir." Ayer acknowledged.
Ezra watched him gesture to his men before switching his own E-11 to stun. As he was doing so, Thrawn turned to a Death Trooper.
"Commander, you are to do the same."
With a burst of loud fuzzy static Ezra couldn't understand, the Death Trooper squad began to adjust their weapons as well.
"And as for you, Bridger, you're going to need a cover story."
"A cover story?"
"If anybody asks, you're a cadet from the academy serving as my aide."
"So that's what the uniform is for."
Before they had departed, Ezra was quick to point out how much of a mess his outfit was in. The orange shirt and brown pants he'd been wearing since they left Lothal was covered in blood-soaked lacerations after his encounter aboard the abandoned ship, and he wanted to show up wearing something a bit more presentable for first contact with an alien species. When he'd been handed an Imperial uniform, he groaned in annoyance but otherwise he'd just figured it was the only outfit they had available that fit him.
"Easier to explain?" Ezra inquired.
"Far easier to explain."
"So basically you don't want to show weakness in front of the Narivan, typical." Ezra thought to himself.
"The Chimaera's fabricators have civilian clothing patterns programmed into them. Once this mission is over you can see if there's anything more to your liking in our database."
"Thanks, I was starting to get sick of the orange." Ezra said semi-sarcastically.
They sat there for another minute before the pilot's voice buzzed through the passenger hold.
"Admiral, unidentified craft incoming."
"The Narivan told us they would be sending out aircraft to lead us to their compound. This must be them. Display visual."
A holographic projection of the shuttle's surroundings flashed up in the centre of the hold. Ezra could see the shuttle's surroundings, consisting of a rugged mountainous landscape jutting up from beneath them, as well as the TIE escort and twin Sentinel shuttles following them. But ahead he could also see three more craft he didn't recognise coming right at them.
Three fighter sized craft roared as they closed in on the Imperials. The jets flew in formation straight towards the Lambda before suddenly diving and swinging around to fly perpendicular to the Imperials. Two moved back to take point at either end of the formation while one remained in front of the Lambda.
"Atmospheric fighter craft. Running on jet turbines by the looks of it." Faro said.
As the imperial ships broke out from the stratosphere and began descending towards the mountains below, the jets twirled then pulled up. Turning away from the formation then flying over them in unison before the hologram flickered off.
"Impressive." Thrawn remarked.
Ezra sighed and stared at the floor. This all must have been quite amusing for him, facing an enemy this weak and having the overwhelming advantage. The resources of a planet as primitive as this wouldn't stand a chance against the fleet of Imperial Star Destroyers.
The shuttle continued to fly over the unfamiliar landscape before all of a sudden Ezra felt the ship shudder and rumble as the landing cycle began. A quiet whirr emanated through the walls as the landing gear deployed. A red light flicked on, indicating that the ramp was ready to open.
"Looks like we've arrived, Sir." Faro said, unbuckling herself from the seat. The other members of the delegation stood up, grabbed whatever weapons they possessed, and began moving in an orderly fashion towards the ramp. Thrawn stood behind his Death Trooper guards, with Ezra on his left side and Faro and 5A-6 at his right.
The shuttles exit ramp lowered with a hiss, sunlight reflecting off the metal and blazed upwards into the bay right into Ezra's eyes.
Ayer and his Stormtroopers filed out first. The Death Troopers followed, then the Royal Guards after them. Finally they all stepped aside to make way for the main procession consisting of Thrawn, Faro, 5A-6 and Ezra.
It took Ezra a moment for his eyes to adjust as he walked out into the daylight, and shivered as a chill filled the air. As his eyes adjusted he could see the snow-capped peak of the mountain take shape not far above him, and he immediately realized they were still at a fairly high altitude.
As his eyes adjusted further, he gradually took in the scope of the environment around him. The scene immediately in front of him was one of the full military grandeur of the Empire. The Lambda shuttle had touched down in a large plaza jutting out from a cliffside atop this high mountain. Most of it seemed to be covered in grass and marble pathways, with the Lambda landing on a large stone square at the far end of it and flanking the Lambda on either side were identical Sentinel-Class landing crafts. A long column of Stormtroopers stood at attention on either side of the shuttle, blasters held tightly against their chests, forming a corridor of two gleaming white walls of armour leading out in front of him.
Ezra wasn't sure if he should feel honored or sickened.
And at last, at the opposite end of the field, Ezra finally got a good look at these Narivan.
At the other end of the corridor of Stormtroopers, the Imperial display was countered with a line of dozens if not hundreds of feathered avian-like aliens, standing at attention facing them. Rifles of some sort rested on their shoulders as their claw-like hands and long feathery arms held them in place. Stood at attention in rank and file, their reverse-jointed legs and long necks were as straight as they could be. Some were coated in feathers of pure white, others were grey or brown, and some were even covered in feathers of brighter colours like blue and green and red. Their large black bulbous eyes blinked rapidly and watched the aliens intently as they walked forth from the shuttle.
Without warning, a loud squawk came from behind the regiment, and suddenly the center of the feathered formation strafed to the side to form a corridor between the lines of soldiers. Followed by another call they all raised and shouldered their arms as their saber wielding officers raised their swords in salute. First came the rolling of drums and accompanying instruments filled the air as a small group slowly walked between them, an aged grey bird flanked by two tall guards. The old bird was dressed in a distinctive red tunic with a small plaque glinting on the chest. The other two were dressed in yellow jackets and black caps. They stayed close by the other's side as if to protect them from a perceived threat. The one in red was probably their leader, Ezra observed, and the other two were likely bodyguards of some kind.
He waited and watched as the trio approached, moving in step together as they moved towards the shuttle then stopping with the music just short of the Imperial delegation. The old bird stepped forward from the guards, his red cloak billowing with the breeze as he stood face to face with the Grand Admiral. For a moment, only the whistling wind filled the chilly air, Ezra waited to see who would be the one to break the silence.
After a tense moment, it was Thrawn who spoke first.
"5A-6, extend them my greetings on behalf of the Galactic Empire." Thrawn ordered.
5A-6 began to squawk and chirp in the Narivan language. The one in the red tunic was startled, its eyes widened and its feathers straightened upwards as it squawked in surprise. The two guards made a noise between a gurgle and a hiss at the droid, closing in defensively around the leader with weapons raised into their arms.
Ezra gulped, his hand moving reflexibly to the saber latched behind a pack on his hip, ready to draw, but before anything further could happen the leader frantically grabbed the two guards by the shoulder and squawked something that sounded like a set of orders. Reluctantly, the guards relaxed and stepped back to their position as their leader moved forward again. The old bird still seemed perplexed as it squawked back to the protocol droid.
"Is there a problem, 5A-6?" Thrawn inquired, seamingly unfazed by the event.
"A misunderstanding sir, It would appear they have never seen a droid before and were alarmed at my speech."
The one in the red tunic took his eye off the droid as it spoke to Thrawn and quickly scanned the group of Imperials. It's gaze darted from one alien to the next as it blinked rapidly. Before setting its gaze on Thrawn and it squawked something.
"My apologies, offworlder," 5A-6 translated, "My bodyguards are merely overly cautious, that is all."
Thrawn nodded before the Narivan squawked again.
"My name is President Reelak. Welcome to Neriva, you are the Grand Admiral Thrawn?"
Reelak held out a hand, his long talon-like fingers stretched out towards Thrawn.
"President Reelak? It's an honour to meet you, and an honour to visit your planet."
Ezra looked on as Thrawn shook his hand. The long fingers of the President were able to wrap the whole way around Thrawn's hand.
"It is an honour to have you here. It is not every day we receive off-worlders."
"With all due respect, the ship you sent out didn't seem very honored."
Reelak let out something resembling a sigh.
"Yes, I must apologize for that. Admiral Carala can be slightly… overzealous."
As Reelak let go of Thrawn's hand, the Grand Admiral turned then gestured to those behind him and began to introduce his retenue.
"This is my second in command, Commodore Faro."
Reelak walked over behind Thrawn to shake Faro's hand.
"On behalf of the Empire it's an honor to meet you."
"And this is my aide, Cadet Bridger."
"It's good to meet you, Mister President." Ezra said nervously as he shook the President's hand. The President tried to act as pleasant and welcoming as he could but Ezra could feel Reelak's apprehension and fear through the force. It saddened him, he felt like he should be on the Narivans' side here.
Thrawn turned to 5A-6. "Ask the President when we may begin the negotiations."
5A-6 relayed the message. Reelak gave a disappointed look.
"I'm afraid you will have to wait, Admiral Thrawn. I'm sorry to disappoint you but we need time for the council to convene."
"The council?" Thrawn inquired.
"It's going to take some of them time to arrive here. Many wish to be here personally for this contact." Reelak replied.
Thrawn seemed to think it over for a moment. "Very well Mr. President, we shall join you in the lounge until then. There is much about your planet I would like to know."
Reelak turned away and gestured for the offworlders to follow.
"That went… alright." Ezra said as he started walking.
"Indeed, let us hope the rest of our visit goes as smoothly." Thrawn replied, keeping his voice low.
The front wall of the compound that jutted out from the mountain had in fact been the entrance to a much larger complex built into the mountain. The large wooden doors had led them to a massive round chamber with a mosaic floor, several large statues and a sizable domed roof. Three different floors were connected by stairs, each leading off to multiple corridors rolling deep into the mountain. It was a labyrinthine structure Ezra could've easily gotten lost in had the President not been guiding him. Some of the corridors had electrical lights fitted to the wooden beams supporting the pointed ceiling, a clearly recent addition, and Ezra had spotted more than one renovation crew on the way to the lounge. Thrawn had been looking all round in fascination at the structure the moment they had entered from the courtyard, and Ezra couldn't blame him.
"I must say, President Reelak, this is a most impressive structure. Its design looks fairly archaic, I presume it predates your Federation?"
"Indeed it is. I am pleased to see you are so captivated with the structure, Admiral. Our people chose this place for its symbolic value. It has a great amount of history you see, and the order that once resided here is quite well respected one."
"Interesting, what was this order?"
Reelak seemed taken aback by the question, judging from the stern look he gave to both Thrawn and 5A-6.
"The President says that with all due respect, he would rather not discuss that right now."
Thrawn nodded in acknowledgement.
"There is no harm done, every species has secrets they would rather not divulge."
5A-6 relayed the message.
Reelak turned to what Ezra presumed was a messenger, saying something to which he couldn't hear, before they nodded and walked away. The Narivan sitting next to Reelak continued to stare at the off-worlders. Reelak had introduced him as Professor Kreel, his chief scientific advisor, and he'd just been wordlessly staring at them ever since they entered into the refurbished area of the compound. The lounge which Reelak led them into was very well furnished. It was certainly far more comfortable than anything on the Chimaera, Ezra thought to himself. The chairs were well padded with a lush red fabric, though they were oddly shaped. They were clearly designed for Narivan, not humans. There was a low table in between the seats and a door leading off to what was presumably a kitchen area was visible off to the side. The decor and the chandelier hanging from the ceiling made Ezra realise just how far up in the galaxy he had come from living in that run down tower.
As servants came out from the kitchen, one presented Reelak with an expensive bottle of some beverage Ezra didn't recognize. Giving a nod of approval the server stabbed his beak into the cork atop the bottle and ripped it out and began pouring the liquid into the glasses set on the table. Thrawn and Faro accepted the drink after the Reelak took a long sip and 5A-6's scanners confirmed it was safe to consume. As they did their host squawked again.
"I'm afraid Admiral Carala won't be able to make it. His re-entry vehicle required some repairs and he's only re-entering the atmosphere now."
"The Narivan possess no shielding or repulsor technology Admiral, it's likely they find planetary descent more difficult than we would." Faro commented. Thrawn nodded in response.
"So, I presume your people are new to spaceflight?" Faro asked.
Reelak scratched the underside of his beak. He looked like he was about to answer when suddenly Professor Kreel opened his mouth and chirped at 5A-6. It was the first time he had spoken and it caught Ezra off-guard.
"There were experiments and attempts to reach the upper atmosphere before the Federation, but the fleet you encountered is our species' first true accomplishment in the field."
"Fascinating, what prompted you to build such a fleet in the first place?" Thrawn asked.
Kreel was about to answer when Reelak stopped him, for a moment Ezra saw a stern look.
"We wanted to explore the stars and see what was beyond our planet, that is all."
"I see…"
Lying to a Jedi is exceptionally hard, even someone as untrained as Ezra could sense the hasty concealment with the lie. Judging from the look on Thrawn's face he hadn't bought it either. Professor Kreel again chirped at 5A-6.
"How and when did your people develop space travel?"
"Both Humans and Chiss have had access to spaceflight since long before the start of recorded history. Hyperspace travel predates the Empire by millennia."
"Interesting. So your Empire is a recent invention?" Kreel asked. It was exceptionally difficult to read the Narivans' facial expressions, and Ezra was increasingly relying on the Force to help him read them. He sensed a mixture of fascination, but also suspicion.
"The Empire itself is recent, but it is the successor to a much older government."
"And where exactly is it?"
"The Empire spans the vast majority of the known galaxy Mr. President, though I must admit this part of space is considered unexplored territory to us." Faro said.
"Really? And how did you end up here?" Reelak asked.
Faro stopped, she made a face as if to consider her answer.
"It was due to a navcomputer accident." Thrawn said calmly.
Kreel's eyes narrowed as he focused his gaze on the Admiral. He tilted his head and squawked at 5A-6.
"A navcomputer accident?"
"Our navcomputers were sliced into by an insurgent group. By the time we realized what had happened, we were out of Imperial territory." He insisted.
"Hmmm..." Kreel mumbled as he nodded.
"He didn't buy that." Ezra thought to himself, sensing the rising suspicion in the Professor.
"So what is this Galactic Empire exactly? Who is your leader?"
"Our leader is Emperor Palpatine. He founded the Empire." Faro said, visibly pleased by the change of subject.
"You see the Empire used to be a Republic, and Palpatine was its Chancellor, but he reformed it into the Empire after the Republic collapsed into a civil war."
"I see." Kreel replied.
Reelak tapped his beak in response to the translation, clearly mulling over the information. He then finished his drink with a last gulp, his talon lightly scratching the glass as he stared at it for a moment before setting it down.
"And tell me, is the Empire just your kind?" Reelak asked.
Faro glanced at Ezra and then gestured to herself. "You mean, our species?"
Reelak nodded.
"The Empire is predominantly Humans but no, there are other thousands of species living within it."
Kreel stared at the Commodore. "So 'Human', is that what you are?"
Faro nodded. "Yes, I'm a human, and so is the cadet here and our soldiers."
"And what about you Grand Admiral, you are a 'Chiss', correct?" Kreel asked.
"Correct." Thrawn nodded.
"And are these Chiss common within the Empire?"
"No, I'm afraid we're something of a rarity. The Chiss are something of an 'ally' to the Empire. It's a complicated relationship, but one that has been beneficial to both parties thus far." He continued.
"So your people exist outside the Empire?" Kreel asked.
"The Chiss Ascendancy is a separate entity, yes." Thrawn replied.
"Fascinating, and yet you exist as one above the rest. How did this come to be f?"
"Actually, that's a story I'd like to hear myself." Thought Ezra.
Thrawn paused for a moment as if to consider his answer.
"It is a long story." He plainly answered.
"We have time." Kreel replied.
Thrawn smiled back in reply before the professor quickly switched subjects.
"Today has been most interesting, Grand Admiral. We've learned of the existence of both mechanical beings like your translator and not one, but two alien civilizations, and potentially even more species." The President said.
"Indeed, when I was young, many of our kind believed that we were the only intelligent species in the Universe. Now we know of three more."
Ezra frowned. "Wait a minute, did he say three?"
5A-6 translated the statement, to which Reelak and Kreel visibly winced. Reelak spoke up hastily.
"Two, what he meant to say was two. Your droid must have translated the number wrong."
5A-6 relayed the message verbatim, she immediately turned to Thrawn, realizing what she'd just said.
"Admiral, I did not mistranslate, I most definitely heard him say three." The droid quietly insisted. Thrawn raised his hand and gestured for the droid to be quiet.
A loud knocking sound emanated from the door. A Narivan popped their head in and squawked at President Reelak. Reelak responded, and the Narivan left with a nod.
"It would appear the first of my council has arrived. They will soon be ready to meet you, Admiral Thrawn."
"Best not to keep them waiting." Thrawn said, standing up.
"My presence is required elsewhere, Grand Admiral." Reelak said.
"It was a pleasure talking with you." Thrawn replied, before he turned to Kreel.
"If you don't mind, Professor, my associates and I have other matters to attend to."
Professor Kreel got to his feet, and nodded to Thrawn before they both trotted through the door. As they left, Faro seemed to relax.
"It appears it will take the Narivan some time to gather their leadership. They are likely scattered all across the planet."
"Its quite fortuitous, this has given me plenty of time to study these Narivan. We only have one more issue to worry about. In the meantime Commodore, return to the shuttle and contact Captain Pellaeon. Inform him that the situation is proceeding well and tell him there's going to be only a minor delay."
"At once Admiral."
Faro turned towards the door.
"Cadet Bridger, you are dismissed for now."
Ezra grumbled slightly at the name.
"Sure, thanks… Admiral."
It was some time later when the off-worlders were finally summoned to meet the council. The guards opened the old doors into the chamber. It was built deep within the heart of the mountain, a hexagonal room with marble walls and floors with pillars lining the corners. Without any natural lighting, the only illumination was from the ornate chandelier, dangling elegantly from the ceiling. A long oval table sat in the center, surrounded by high backed dark wood chairs, all of which were occupied by Narivan except for four. The group turned in their attention to the opening doors to observe the visitors, staring at them with intense curiosity.
Thrawn, Faro and Ezra took their place in the empty seats. Reelak sat at the table directly opposite of Thrawn and cleared his throat. He began to talk as 5A-6 translated.
"President Reelak wishes to introduce the council, Grand Admiral."
The set of Narivan sitting the closest to Reelak wore black and yellow tunics. To the left of them were three Narivan in blue tunics and hats, with sets of badges and other military insignia. Those gathered on his right bore little resemblance between them. They wore various outfits of different types, and some even bore different coloured feathers. The one closest to the president sported feathers of a deep blue, and another a set of red and yellow. One was bright green, another white with a gold crest on the head. The only commonality was how different many of them looked to the Narivan he'd seen around the compound.
"An honor to meet you all. We have much to discuss."
5A-6 squawked at the council. A mixture of reactions were visible on the faces of the locals, the only seeming commonality the surprise of the off-worlders speaking through a talking machine built in their image. Reelak, more used to the droid's presence, began the introductions. The trio in the uniforms were the admiralty of the space fleet they'd seen from orbit, or at least whichever Admirals happened to currently be planetside. The Narivan sitting closest to the President were his advisory council, and the other group were representatives from some of the various member states of the Federation.
"Commodore, if you would."
Faro stood up at the Admiral's command, straightening her tunic as she stood tall and placed a small holoprojector on the table before picking up a datapad.
"Tell the council that I would like to begin by presenting my offer." Thrawn told 5A-6. The droid nodded and relayed the message.
Faro clicked a button on the holoprojector, and with a few touches on her datapad its projector suddenly sprang to life.
A large image of the galaxy lit up the room, the large spiral of gleaming stars and planets hovering high above them. All of a sudden, the stars dimmed and the Galaxy turned a dark grey color. Lines spanned across the map with the Imperial Crest, manifest symbol of the Empire, covering the core of the map, the very seat of the Emperor's power, and holding domain over the large grey mass sprawling outwards and engulfing most of the galaxy. Then a blinking red dot formed, a blip lost in the vast sea of space known as the Unknown Regions obviously meant to represent their current position. Ezra grimacing upon seeing it. The sprawling mass engulfing the Galaxy was intimidating, no doubt a deliberate demonstration of the Empire's power, and something about actually seeing how far from home he really was made his heart sink.
"This is the territory of the Galactic Empire, where we're from." Faro said, gesturing to the large mass. 5A-6 quickly chirped out a translation. The Narivan seemed to gape at the sheer size of the territory. Some of the President's advisors eyed the map with suspicion as if to doubt the claim. The trio of Admirals glared at the map with a steely resolve, realizing now what they were dealing with.
"And this area here is what we call the Unknown Regions. It remains largely unexplored due to a massive hyperspace anomaly that bisects the galaxy and blocks travel. The region is also filled with countless more anomalies making traversal of the region difficult. This red dot here is our current position, well out of range of any sort of Imperial outpost."
One of the Admirals examined the map then chirped at 5A-6.
"And how did you come to find yourselves so far from your Empire?" 5A-6 translated.
"We were patrolling near a system named Lothal when a navicomputer malfunction threw us off course. By the time we realized our trajectory was wrong we were already well out of Imperial Space. We've been attempting to return to Imperial territory since, though the journey has been difficult on my men and our ships. We have incurred a heavy amount of damage and it is becoming less and less likely we will be able to return home."
"A navcomputer malfunction, that's one way to put it." Ezra thought to himself.
A different Admiral cawed at 5A-6.
"And you wish to use our platforms to repair your ships so you can go home?"
"With your permission, yes."
The Narivan chirped and squawked amongst themselves as they considered the Admiral's request. A second Admiral squawked at 5A-6.
"And why should we allow you to use our platforms?"
Thrawn reclined in his chair, pondering his answer.
"I'm willing to come to an arrangement. We have much to offer you. Star charts, for example. We have been navigating this region of space for some time now, and would be happy to provide you with information of your nearby surroundings. But the most valuable thing we can give you is technology."
Upon hearing the translation the Narivan gave what Ezra thought was a puzzled look.
"Technology?" The President asked.
"You are no doubt aware of the demonstration I gave when Admiral Carala took hostile action against my ship?"
The President nodded somewhat uncomfortably. An Admiral shrieked angrily.
"If this is some attempt at intimidation, off-worlder, it won't work."
Thrawn turned to look at the Admiral.
"My fleet was attacked and threatened, and I responded in kind. Would you have preferred if I had instead returned fire?"
The Admirals glowered and hissed angrily, one of the ambassadors likewise growled at Thrawn.
Ezra subconsciously lowered his hands under the table, keeping them in his lap nearer to his lightsaber. He took a deep breath in, somehow he felt safer with his blade within reach.
Reelak shrieked to the council to be quiet. When the others had quietened, he squawked at 5A-6.
"Is there some point you are attempting to make here, Admiral Thrawn?"
"I'm highlighting the fact that my Star Destroyers are far more technologically advanced than any of your vessels, and I'm offering you a chance to correct that."
Reelak scratched the underside of his beak as the revelation seemed to dawn on him.
"You want to trade us technology in exchange for usage of the platforms?"
"Offer us any and all assistance you can give and I will share with you the technology of the Empire."
Reelak thought for a moment. Tension in the room eased. Ezra brought his hands back onto the armrests and breathed a silent sigh of relief.
"What kind of technology are you offering?" Reelak asked.
"Energy weapons, for one. From what I have seen, you are still using ballistic firearms, the galaxy at large has moved far past such things. We also have far more advanced sublight propulsion, as well as communications, shielding and many other things which would help your fleet become more effective."
The Admiralty leaned in amongst themselves. All of a sudden they seemed far more receptive to Thrawn's proposals.
"We also have Bacta, it's a medical substance capable of rapid healing of injuries. Droids too, like my translator here. But most valuable of all, we can give you hyperspace travel."
Reelak frowned in confusion.
"What is this 'Hyperspace'?"
"It is a dimension in which objects can move at speeds faster than light. It is how our ships are able to traverse the breath of the galaxy in a short amount of time. From what we have determined you don't appear to have any method of faster than light travel. I would be happy to let you examine some of our data concerning hyperdrives."
For a long moment the Narivan just stared at Thrawn, hesitant to give a reaction. They chirped and murmured amongst themselves. The blue feathered Narivan on the right turned and squawked at Thrawn.
"You're promising us a lot Admiral, we're going to need some proof of these things before we can actually sign on to anything."
"Then let me contact my ship, we have the information in our databases and engineers can be brought down to better illustrate the capabilities of our technology."
The Narivan chirped amongst themselves as if discussing the offer and then nodded in unison.
"Very well then Admiral. We will continue this discussion once you have something to show us. Until then you and your party are free to roam the complex. Accommodation will be provided though I must inform you, it was not designed for off-worlders."
And with that, the council was in recess. The Narivan rose from their seats and trotted off. Thrawn, Faro and Ezra stood up and left, meeting up with Ayer and a number of Stormtroopers.
"That went better than I expected." Ezra commented, to nobody in particular.
"How were you expecting it to go?" Ayer replied.
"A lot more hostile, I guess. I don't know what I was expecting."
"Yes well we're not in the clear yet." Faro interjected, overhearing them.
"The Narivan still haven't accepted our deal, and I have my reservations about just giving away Imperial technology."
"I don't intend to give them much, Commodore. I'm not about to hand over state of the art Imperial secrets, just rudimentary technology is enough to satisfy them."
Ezra glanced around the hallway, lost in thought.
"Is something the matter?" Thrawn asked.
Ezra shrugged. "I don't know, I guess it's just that that's the most reasonable I've ever seen Imperials act."
"Reasonable?" Thrawn inquired.
Ezra gave no answer as they silently continued walking.
But inside he was still mulling over what he'd seen in there. He'd been expecting the Imperials to just use brute force to get their way in the negotiations, but instead Thrawn had actually been willing to bargain with the Narivan and come to somewhat of a fair deal in which both parties could benefit.
Maybe this was actually going to end well after all.
The wind blew across Ezra's face as he stared off the edge of the platform. He was consciously keeping his distance from the edge, not wanting to get blown over the side by the wind. He'd wondered why the railing at the edge had small gates that seemingly just led out over the edge of the platform. His question was answered when a Narivan walked up to one, opened it and jumped off the edge before spreading its wings and gliding off into the mountains. The rest of the Narivan would occasionally glance at him, but otherwise he was largely left alone. He'd gotten used to the cold, frankly he was just happy to be able to breathe some air with no pollution for once.
It was certainly quite a view, one he hadn't had a chance to admire on the way in. Neriva was the exact opposite of Lothal, with the rolling plains of grassland replaced by a jagged, rough and mountainous terrain, but it had its own distinct charm. What really caught his eye, however, was the cityscape in the distance. It was grafted into the very mountain range itself, with large metallic structures built into the side. Lights and walkways dotted the mountain range, and some of them were flat topped, with large metal bunkers built at the top.
It had occurred to Ezra this was the first time he'd been planetside since leaving Lothal. Ever since leaving his home he'd spent most of his time on the Chimaera, only leaving on that one particular excursion he didn't want to think about. The air was noticeably cleaner here, the last time he'd been on Lothal he could smell the pollution in the air, the smog was so bad in some places he'd almost gotten sick. He sighed, hopefully the planet could heal some day.
He'd made a few attempts to reach out to the force, trying to get a sense of his surroundings. While he couldn't sense any danger or ill-will, a thin feeling of animosity or suspicion emanated from the building but nothing he wouldn't expect from politics.
But his main concern right now was how things were going to go between Thrawn and the Narivan. He'd seen the lengths Thrawn was willing to go to. The Imperials were not going to leave without the supplies they needed, they were too desperate for that. And if a confrontation broke out, what was he going to do? He needed the Imperials to get home but he certainly wasn't going to help them, and he'd feel wrong just standing by and doing nothing. Siding with the Narivan might be necessary, but then he'd practically be stuck here for the foreseeable future. But would they even want his help? Even if he was to explain who he really was would the Narivan even care? They knew nothing about the Empire, the Rebellion or anything else. As far as he could tell the only distinction they made seemed to be in terms of the Narivan and off-worlders.
But the worst part was having nobody to talk to, the isolation. No spectres, no ghost crew, no Kanan or Sabine or even Ahsoka or Rex, he was well and truly alone. Even the only "friends" he had, like Ayer or Ormyn, were still, at the end of the day, Imperials. It was truly a no-win situation.
Sighing, he stepped away from the barrier, trying to distract himself from thinking about just how alone he really was. As he walked stared over at the Imperial landing site, catching sight of an Imperial technician reaching up into a maintenance hatch on one of the Sentinels that had followed them down. Faro was talking with one of the shuttle pilots near the Lambda, and a group of Stormtroopers stood near the other Sentinel.
Then he approached the monument.
He'd sighted it on the way in, but hadn't thought much of it. A large statue in the centre of the courtyard, a Narivan with its wings outstretched and its head bowed, eyes closed. He similarly paid no heed now as he strolled past it, and only stopped when he heard a voice to his side.
"I take it you're enjoying the feeling of being planetside again?"
Ezra hadn't noticed Thrawn. The Admiral was standing in front of the monument, studying it intently.
"Yeah, I'd forgotten what clean air feels like. Last time I was on Lothal I could practically taste all the pollution." Ezra said.
"A consequence of rapid industrialization, one Arihnda Pryce had little concern for."
For a fraction of a second, Ezra almost thought he could sense a certain level of contempt in Thrawn's voice.
"And yet the Narivan seem to have avoided such consequences. Most likely they're using geothermal power."
"Geothermal?" Ezra asked.
"It would explain the lack of pollution, and the mountainous terrain of the planet suggests a high amount of volcanic activity. The Chimaera's scanners were also unable to detect much in the way of industrial activity, meaning most of their factories are probably located underground."
By this point, Ezra was only half paying attention to Thrawn while he stared up at the monument.
"I do, but that is not my concern at the moment. It makes little difference to me and I don't think they are actively attempting to hide it. Right now, I'm far more interested in this particular monument."
Ezra glanced up at the large stone Narivan looming over him with its wings outstretched. "What's so special about it?"
"It caught my eye the moment we exited the shuttle. It's tall, imposing. It's placed directly in the centre of the courtyard, occupying a location of great significance. Both its position and its posture lend it great importance. The arms are outstretched, but the head is bowed and the eyes are closed, almost as if it is expressing sorrow. I do not think this is a mere decorative art piece, Bridger."
Ezra shrugged, "Maybe it's a historical figure? Somebody they look up to?"
"A likely deduction, but no. This statue has no individual characteristics or identification of the figure. It is more likely meant as a generalized representation of the Narivan species as a whole."
"So, what is it then?" Ezra asked.
"Take a look at the writing at the base."
Ezra frowned, he squinted at the base of the statue. He stepped over to get a closer look, the grass beneath his feet giving way to a hard marble floor. Upon closer inspection the base was indeed covered in patterns and shapes he didn't recognise. Rows and rows of symbols he didn't recognize rolled out over the base of the statue.
"Are you sure that's writing?"
Thrawn paced around the statue, examining the base from every angle. "Its arrangement and diversity has all the traits of a writing system. Repeated shapes, which appear to letters. Sets of patterns, which could be construed as words and sentences."
The more he looked at it, the more Ezra became aware of the patterns, which did seem to line up with Thrawn's claims. He saw symbols, even sets of symbols, repeating.
"If you're so curious about it, why not go get 5A-6 and ask the Narivan?"
"I have already tried that.
"And?"
"They are rather elusive when it comes to the topic of this statue. I've asked the guards, the Professor, as well as any passing Narivan willing to speak with me. And all of them seemed to shy away from the subject. All of them except the Professor who just said it was of no concern and insisted it wasn't worth looking into."
"But you think it is?"
Thrawn nodded as he began to pace around the monument alongside Ezra.
"Tell me Bridger, did you get the feeling the President and his Professor were hiding something?"
In his mind, Ezra played back the conversation in the lounge as best as he could remember it. Although it was impossible to know for sure, he had no way to judge what was normal behaviour for a Narivan, Thrawn had a point. There was definitely something aloof with the two back there.
"You showed up in their system with a warship more powerful than their entire fleet put together. I'd be more surprised if they weren't a little suspicious."
"But why such a rush to construct a functioning warfleet? Why were the various nation states of this planet so willing to band together and form a planetary Federation? Why bother with such urgent preparation against a foe which might not even exist?"
"They wanted to leave their planet and explore?"
"With such heavily armed warships?" Thrawn replied, shaking his head as he turned back to face Ezra.
"I have to say Bridger, you have an almost unnatural ability to miss that which is right in front of you."
"What?"
"Look down."
"Look down? What do you-"
Ezra stopped speaking the moment his eyes hit the floor, and saw the patterns etched into the marble below his feet.
Patterns that matched the writing on the statue.
"More writing? But what's all this for?"
He walked along the words in the ground, reading them as he went. The writing covered every inch of the stone floor.
"I don't get it, what is all this? It's just one row of words after another, it's like..."
Ezra's eyes widened, all of a sudden it clicked.
"This is a list." Ezra muttered, verbalizing his thoughts.
"A list of what?" Thrawn asked, already knowing the answer.
"Names..."
Ezra's eyes rolled over the list
"This is a memorial, isn't it?"
"And these are the casualties, yes."
Ezra's eyes scanned the expanse of names rolling across the ground. "That's a lot of names."
"Indeed."
For a long moment, Ezra just gazed over the list of alien names he couldn't read. The scale of it was immense. What made it more difficult was the impossibility to tell what constituted a name among so many. Ezra then paused and turned to Thrawn.
"Is there some point you're trying to prove here?"
Thrawn nodded silently.
"Are you going to tell me what it is?"
"No, I want to see if you can figure it out for yourself."
Ezra glumly scanned the names, a seemingly endless list dead.
"What could've caused this?" He desperately asked himself.
"Some kind of planetwide war? A natural disaster? No, wait..."
Ezra paced, taking a minute to think it over. He spoke his thoughts aloud as they entered his head.
"Why is it here? They could've put this anywhere on the planet, why put it in the Federation's headquarters? Unless it's somehow relevant to the Federation?"
"And do you still think we are the first aliens to visit this planet?" Thrawn replied.
Ezra grimaced, it wasn't hard to realize what Thrawn was suggesting.
"The Voidlord?" He asked, the first idea to enter his head.
"The Voidlord would not have left survivors." Thrawn replied, his demeanour growing remarkably cold at the mention of the name.
Ezra shrugged. "So, something else then, but what?"
It was at that precise moment, without warning, that Thrawn abruptly turned away from the statue and started walking.
"Hey! Where are you going?"
"The art gallery."
"The art gallery?" Ezra repeated, confused.
"There's something I wish to show you."
The gallery was tucked away in a secluded section of the compound in relation to the chambers Ezra had seen when he'd first entered, set at the end of a side corridor at the top of a small flight of stairs and a marble archway. The wooden floor creaked below his feet as he entered, and the only source of light was two old ceiling lamps above him. Fortunately the room was tall enough for both him and Thrawn to stand up straight in.
"This is it? I would've thought they'd keep all this somewhere a little, I don't know, grander." Ezra commented.
"According to the curator this is a temporary placement pending renovations. Unfortunately, most of these are mere replicas, the real ones are located in the Tenerva Museum."
"Tenerva?" Ezra asked.
"The capital city of the Federation, I'm told. The Chimaera's sensors identified an urban centre a few miles from here. That may be it."
Ezra scanned the room, eyes flicking over the dozen or so paintings on display around him.
"Well, here we are. What did you want to show me then anyway?"
The Jedi turned as he asked to find Thrawn facing away from him, hands clasped behind his back, as he intently studied a painting to Ezra's right.
"The art is what I wanted to show you."
Ezra frowned, "Uhh, okay? Why?"
"Because it's the final piece of the puzzle you were missing in the courtyard."
Ezra looked around and shrugged again. "I... don't get it, sorry. Sabine was more of the art person."
"Ah yes, the Mandalorian. Remember this well, Bridger. Don't leave clues for your enemies to find. Her artwork was an incredibly useful tool in combating your Rebel cell."
Ezra scoffed, "Hah, yeah, good one."
Thrawn's expression was serious, with a hint of puzzlement to Ezra's reaction.
"Wait, you're serious?"
"Why wouldn't I be? You can learn a lot about a species or a culture from its artwork."
Ezra raised an eyebrow. "Really now?"
"You don't believe me?"
"Honestly, not really no." He shrugged, shaking his head.
Thrawn shook his head in disappointment as he remained facing towards a large landscape piece adorning the far wall as he continued to speak.
"As if you'd be able to understand." Thrawn sighed, visibly irritated.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ezra asked.
"That perhaps I was wrong about you." Thrawn retorted, unusually harsh. He'd turned now to glare at him, the glowing red eyes staring down at him.
"When I first started operating in the Lothal sector I quickly began building profiles of every notable member of the Phoenix cell, and it wasn't long before the Spectres in particular came to my attention. I studied both Twi'lek and Lasat culture extensively, and I researched Cham Syndulla's actions during the Clone Wars. I located Sabine Wren's profile from her time at the academy, acquired whatever art she was kind enough to leave for us to find, and began researching Mandalorian society, history, culture and art as best I could. I even attempted to investigate the Jedi, only to find that most of the documents concerning both them and the events of the purge were classified, even to me."
Ezra took a step back, wanting to distance himself. Thrawn could be truly terrifying when he wanted to be.
"And then I got to you, and do you know what I found? The arrest warrant for your parents, a recording of your broadcast from the Lothal Communications Center four years ago, and a number of vague complaints referring to a street orphan occasionally pestering the local Imperial garrison. Nobody in the Empire ever considered you a notable threat. With the notable exception of a certain Admiral Titus lamenting his demotion, almost every mention of your actions was in relation to those around you. You were always the apprentice of Kanan Jarrus, the accomplice of General Syndulla or the Mandalorian. Every other member of your cell consistently overshadowed you. Aside from your weapon and abilities, rarely did anybody ever single you out. So for the rest of my campaign, I dismissed you as little more than a nuisance, a harmless child who blindly followed the Rebellion around merely because you had nowhere else to go. And upon reflection, I was right to do so. The harsh truth, Bridger, is that you would not have gotten this far without your total reliance on your comrades."
"I work well with them." He growled back through gritted teeth, glaring at Thrawn and clenching his fists while he made a futile attempt to stand his ground.
"Perhaps you do, but your Master is dead, and the rest of your friends are on the opposite side of the Galaxy with no idea where you could possibly be. You cannot rely on them anymore. If you do not adapt Bridger, then I'm afraid you won't last long out here."
"Yeah, I really don't need you reminding me of that. Besides, if I'm such a dumb irrelevant child, why do you care?"
"Because of your victory over Lothal. I must admit, I was impressed. The Purrgil were something I could have never possibly predicted, and I began to think that I had previously underestimated your abilities. That you perhaps possessed some latent form of cunning which I had previously underestimated. I had begun to hope that perhaps you did indeed have more potential than I originally gave you credit for. But it doesn't matter, I now realize that my initial impressions of you were correct. You simply exploited a gap in my knowledge and gained a hollow victory through pure luck. The only noteworthy assets you possess are a set of powers you have no clue how to use and a weapon you have no idea how to wield."
"Says the guy I beat." Ezra shot back, becoming increasingly angry at the Admiral.
Thrawn paused, before turning to face him with a raised eyebrow, his analytical presence replaced by an exuding pressure of a cold malice. If looks could kill, Thrawn's disdainful glare that day would have been enough to strike Ezra down on the spot. His face went pale before Thrawn continued as casually as if he'd just scolded a junior officer.
"Do you know what my first actions were after we began our journey? Do you know what I have been doing while we navigate through the Unknown Regions."
"No?" He meekly replied, his body still rigid.
"The very moment we left our initial entry point into the Unknown Regions, I began devising a contingency plan in the event of another purrgil attack."
Ezra's eyes widened. "So, do you have one?" He asked quietly, color slowly returning to his face.
"I have multiple. I know you don't trust anything I say Bridger, but believe me when I say such an attack will not catch me off guard again. And this is the difference between you and I. One battle rarely decides the outcome of a war, it is the ability of a warrior to adapt and continuously evolve their strategies, to counter whatever opponents may rise to test them, which decides the ultimate victor. The moment one becomes complacent is the moment they are truly beaten. One victory does not make you unbeatable. I will warn you now Bridger, if we are ever to do battle again, you will not defeat me a second time."
Ezra's mouth hung open, he frantically scrambled for a response but nothing came no matter how hard he tried. Thrawn ignored him as he quietly stammered, simply keeping his back to Ezra, and turning his attention fully to the painting he had been observing.
"Leave. I have no further use of you."
"But-"
"You are dismissed, Cadet Bridger." He said, his tone and clear command making Ezra jolt at the last two words.
Ezra bit his tongue, silently cursing the Admiral as he made his way towards the exit, frustrated at the verbal thrashing he'd just received. The paintings rolled past his peripheral view as he stormed out, but he paid no attention to the art on the walls.
And then he stopped, his frustration rising. He didn't want to give Thrawn the satisfaction of winning, so he turned back and planted himself down on a bench conveniently out of the Grand Admiral's sight. Ezra sighed, growing tired of Thrawn and his games.
"What the hell am I even supposed to be seeing? Karabast, I wish Sabine was here."
He sighed, taking a deep breath in and clearing his mind. Sabine wasn't here, so instead he tried to remember what little snippets of insight he'd absorbed from her over the years. Most of the paintings had a fairly bright colour scheme, blue and green and purple and orange swirled together across the walls of the gallery. Some were more realistic, landscapes, he thought was the term. Others were more abstract, more surreal. If nothing else, they were pleasant to look at.
So he stared at them, intently. But nothing clicked, he wasn't sure why he'd even bothered with this nonsense, maybe he'd just wanted something to make sense for once. Thrawn was right, the hateful thought filled his mind. He's just hoped something would take his mind off of this… empty feeling.
He sighed, cursing himself and resigning to failure, but just as he marched towards the exit, something caught his eye.
Another painting, but this one was different.
"What the..."
The image of what was presumably a Narivan skull had been scrawled out against a background of swirling crimson red and black. Its beak was wide open in a blood curdling shriek so vivid Ezra could almost hear it.
"You see it, don't you?"
Ezra almost jumped when he heard the voice behind him, almost walking back into Thrawn as he looked over his shoulder.
"Yeah, this one's different somehow." Ezra said.
"It's, I don't know, darker."
"And the others?"
The Jedi glanced back at the previous paintings, observing them to try and confirm his suspicions.
"These ones here, they're more, I don't know, peaceful?"
He frowned, struggling to put it into words, and wishing Sabine was here.
"Tranquil, yes, serene even." Thrawn remarked.
"Yeah and then this one, I don't know, it's..."
Ezra continued to walk towards the exit, disturbed by the increasingly dark and miserable artworks, images of Narivan in states of anger, sadness, misery and suffering. Scenes of great slaughters, skulls piled atop each other, a particularly abstract painting of thousands of tiny specks being sucked into a great black abyss.
"Something really bad happened here." Ezra remarked, before quickly coming to another realization.
"But we already knew that from the memorial outside, no there was something else you wanted me to see."
Thrawn nodded, and silently gestured to a single painting at the very end.
"The moment I saw this, everything made sense."
The figure in the portrait was unlike any creature Ezra had ever seen. It certainly wasn't a Narivan, it wasn't even an avian creature of any sort. Two mouths and a set of large black eyes snarled back at the viewer. A flat, stubby face filled with malice and ominous contempt that almost appeared to stare directly at him.
It stood amongst a city in ruin, wearing a suit of dark armor with a rifle in its hands as it stood over a ditch, its attention like that of a hunter. Lines of figures moved along a street in the background. Narivan being pushed by more dark figures. Below the figure in the ditch, pressing themself against a pile of rubble was the outline of a small feathered body covered in dust, a child trying to hide in the shadow of the rubble crying.
At first Ezra was confused, what was this thing? Why would the Narivan paint it? And why would this prove helpful to Thrawn?
Unless…
"You think that this is one of the aliens that invaded?" Ezra asked, relatively confident in his conclusion.
"I know it. I've seen this species before."
"What? When?"
"Back when I was still with the Ascendancy. The Expansionary Defence Force encountered these creatures quite regularly."
Ezra took another look at the painting. "So what is it then?"
"It's a Vagaari."
"A Vagaari?" Ezra tested the word as he said it out loud. There was something familiar about it. He could've sworn he'd heard it before.
And then it hit him, he remembered. His eyes widened in disgust as it all suddenly dawned on him.
"The fleet we met, the one with the bubbles..."
His stomach twisted into a sickening knot as the pieces rapidly clicked together in his head, forming a sickening sequence of events.
"Oh no." Ezra muttered under his breath.
"It explains everything. The shift towards militarism, the rapid, frantic deployment of a sizable armada, the wariness of off-worlders. If the Narivans' first taste of extraterrestrial life was an encounter with the Vagaari, then it's no wonder they would be suspicious of outsiders."
Ezra stood where he was, solemn expression across his face. For a long minute he simply processed the new information, trying to form an appropriate response.
"So now what?" He finally asked.
"You got what you wanted, we know what the Narivan were hiding. The Vagaari came here and slaughtered millions and they couldn't fight back."
"Oh yes, this entire investigation has been very enlightening. What I have learned here will no doubt prove incredibly useful."
Thrawn turned to the door through which they came in, seeming satisfied with the outcome.
"That's it? What are you going to do?"
Ezras question went unanswered. He caught a glimpse of Thrawn smiling to himself before he'd disappeared through the doorway, leaving Ezra to stand alone in the gallery, left to ponder what the hell had just transpired.
The flat, stubby face of the Vagaari portrait snarled out at him. Ezra wondered to himself exactly how accurate it was to the real thing, it certainly bore enough resemblance that Thrawn was able to recognise it. The more he heard about the Vagaari, the more he disliked them. And from what he saw in this painting, he could only hope he wouldn't run into them again.
This chapter was a nightmare to write. I definitely bit off more than I could chew here, the Narivans' dialogue in particular was a confusing mess with the constant translation back and forth, and then the worldbuilding stuff was a pain. I wanted to give off the impression there's more to the Narivan than what we see directly. I wanted to do a bit of a dive into their internal politicking, but it just wasn't possible. I'm probably going to do that next time. The good news is that half of the stuff I wrote for this chapter didn't actually make it, and a lot of it I intend to use for the next one, so I already have a good chunk of Chapter 14 written meaning it hopefully won't take too long.
For anybody worried I'm getting bogged down too much in mindless filler, everything in these chapters is going to tie in to the wider story of Ascendancy. I've already decided on the wider role both the Narivan and the Mnggal-Mnggal from the previous chapters will play. If nothing else, I want to deconstruct Ezra's character more, break it down piece by piece. The main problem I had with Rebels was that he was never forced into a position where he had to grow or change, there were hints right at the end when Kanan died but for most of the series he stayed as the annoying kid character. This is an ambitious large scale story with multiple factions and players involved, many of whom I've been setting up and foreshadowing in these last thirteen chapters.
Now, to address wider Star Wars happenings. If we ever get to that point, I want everybody to know that everything after Endor is subject to change. Quite frankly, the Sequel Trilogy is so poorly written that after the Rise of Skywalker I simply don't want to have to deal with that trainwreck. Nonsense like Palpatine coming back and the First and Final Orders is a headache. And without giving away too much, I've had the ending for Ascendancy planned out from the very beginning, and quite frankly I actually don't think the rise of the First Order can happen with my ending. It'll become more apparent why later, especially if you have a knowledge of the old EU, but that's all I'll say for now.
The Mandalorian is also post ROTJ, meaning it's subject to change. I had planned to largely ignore it as it was a relatively self-contained side story about a Mando and a certain green baby trudging through the outer rim. But now there's been announcements in relation to Rosario Dawson and a certain orange Togruta meaning I'm probably going to have to overwrite it.
I really don't care about the High Republic it just looks like diet KOTOR.
Thrawn: Treason is now part of the Ascendancy canon. It fits quite well, though I may need to fit a few minor retcons in to have everything make sense. I have explanations lined up for why Faro is still here and Pellaeon isn't on the Harbinger. You'll probably see characters like Ronan (I want to write his reaction to Yavin and Krennic's death in particular) and Vah'nya again at some point in the future. I haven't forgotten the Grysk either, they have their part to play, juggling them and the Voidlord has been difficult but I don't want to say more. The ending to Treason in particular fits extremely well with Ascendancy, and if you've read Treason you know what I'm referring to. As for the aforementioned Ascendancy trilogy, I may appropriate elements of that which I like, but it's probably not going to line up perfectly, especially with the Voidlord going around.
I'm going to be honest, I'm burned out on Star Wars, Lucasfilm have made so many bad decisions and released so much junk I'm just tired at this point. Ascendancy is literally the only Star Wars related thing I really care for anymore. I've grown really sour towards the franchise, even my opinion of Clone Wars, Dave Filoni and even Rebels itself has tanked in the year and a half since I've started. I'm not even sure why I'm still sticking to this project. Maybe I'm stupid for putting this much effort into something only a very small number of people are going to read, maybe I just don't know when to quit.
Eitherway, to the few of you that have stuck around this long, thanks again for the patience, and I'll see you next time.