"I hope you can forgive Carala's suspicion, Grand Admiral, he doesn't like to talk about it but his homeland was hit particularly hard by the Vagaari invasions."

The Professor leans forward, taking a drink from his beaker. He savours the taste for a moment and then returns to speaking through the translation droid.

"The Stonelands, as we call them, were among the only areas of the planet not immediately subjugated by the Vagaari. For the entirety of the occupation the Stonelanders retreated into the mountains and waged a brutal guerrilla campaign against the invaders. Casualties were high, most of their bullets simply bounced off the Vagaari armour, but the Stonelanders refused to give up."

"Was their campaign successful?"

"That depends on your definition of 'successful''."

The Professor moves his eyes down. A remorseful expression takes hold.

"They succeeded in convincing the Vagaari that subjugating the Stonelands wasn't worth it. So instead, the Vagaari decided to use it as an example for the rest of the planet and bombarded it from orbit."

He stares into his drink in recollection.

"Carala, in his younger days, was a member of that guerrilla force. He doesn't like to talk about it, but from the few stories I've heard, whatever he saw in that war left its mark on him. Personally I think the destruction of the Stonelands is why he joined the space fleet in the first place. Wanted to make sure the planet could defend itself from anything like that ever happening again."

Another sip of the beaker. He turns his attention back to the conversation.

"But enough about our world, I still wish to know more about the Empire."

His brow is raised in anticipation of the answer.

"The Empire is the largest governmental body in the Galaxy, as you have already seen. It would take far too much time for me to impart all of the details of its existence."

"Yes of course, but there are a few aspects I've been curious about."

"I have been thinking, if the Empire possesses so many planets, why have I only seen the humans? Asides from yourself I have seen no other species, why is that?"

"Humans are the most widespread species within Imperial territory. They have possessed space travel for millennia and as such have colonised many thousands of worlds."

"But surely there must be at least one or two within your ranks? I can not imagine on such a scale that you wouldn't have other races in your armed forces."

The Professor raises an eyebrow.

"Non-human recruits within the Empire do exist, but the human population outnumbers them quite significantly."

The Professor's eyes narrow. He does not believe my answer.

"And yet here you are."

"My unique history with the Ascendancy offers me certain privileges."

"Indeed, perhaps you would rather speak of your own home?"

"I have not set foot in the Ascendancy since I joined the Empire some years ago."

"But you grew up there, didn't you? Surely you have something to say on it?"

"The Chiss are a… reserved people, for the most part the Ascendancy does not like to involve itself in the affairs of others, and expects the same from those around them. The Council of Families prefers to keep the rest of the galaxy at a distance."

"The Families?"

"The Nine Great Families of the Aristocra, the ruling elite that make up the body of the Chiss government."

"And this group of families leads your whole species?"

"The system is more meritocratic than it sounds. I myself was born as a commoner and then later adopted into the House of Mitth based on my performance in the Expansionary Defence Force."

"So why make contact with the Empire?"

"Unique circumstances presented themselves. A new threat, greater than even the Vagaari, has presented itself in the form of a rising power on our borders. And now, in addition, I have reason to believe an old enemy may be resurfacing."

"Do these new threats pose any danger to us?"

"Neither are likely aware of your world's existence. They would almost certainly pose a threat if they were to become aware of it."

"Interesting."

The Professor continues to maintain eye contact.

"I am glad you find my homeland an interesting subject."

"No, not that, it's interesting you refer to your own kind as 'they'."

Ezra stared out across the landing pad, a ring of flags flying in the breeze. His eyes darted over to the lane of traffic now forming above the Presidential Complex. A crowd of Narivan had formed around the shuttles parked there, marvelling at the technical expertise of the alien ships. Compared to their own craft they would no doubt be awed by the ease with which the Imperials travelled to and from the surface.

A growing noise began to drown out his thoughts, overhead a sound like blades chopping the air began to creep up on the Jedi from behind. Ezra turned his head just in time to see a Narivan aircraft pass over his head. An odd contraption. No repulsorlifts, no thrusters, not even wings to let it glide, just a set of large, upward-facing propellers that kept the aircraft from falling. It kind of reminded him of a rather comical looking technique the Inquisitors had used on Malachor once, and the sight of it just served to remind him of the technological gap between the two factions.

All the more reason to be relieved that their diplomatic relations hadn't turned violent just yet, even more surprising given what he had learned about their history. The Narivan wouldn't stand a chance against the Empire, or any other force even remotely on the same technical level.

And yet here they were, trying anyway, alone in the dark of the unexplored space. No allies, no friends, no real idea what was waiting for them, trying as hard as they could to make a way for themselves to live their lives against the threats in the looming darkness.

He couldn't help but relate.

A whisper from the Force alerted him to the presence of the armoured humanoid now standing behind him.

"Thrawn ordered you to keep an eye on me, didn't he?"

Ezra turned, confirming what he'd already sensed.

"Despite your status, you are still a prisoner." Commander Ayer replied, his helmeted gaze meeting the Jedi's in turn.

Ezra simply shrugged, before the sound of a loud bang jolted him from his focus on the Stotmrooper and he looked around for the source of the noise. Located on a lower cliff face near another one of the many monuments scattered about the complex, a number of the Sentinels were raising their weapons and firing in sync at an officer's command, the crack of their weapons like thunder as they paraded at the monument.

"You have any idea what kind of weapons they're using?"

"Slugthrowers. They fire a metal projectile down the barrel at the target. These ones here use a chemical reaction, some kind of explosive powder by the sound they make."

"I've never seen them before."

"They're only really common in backwater Outer Rim worlds that can't get their hands on blasters for whatever reason, these ones are especially primitive."

"I'm from the Outer Rim and I've never seen one."

"Really backwater Outer Rim worlds kid, in the type of systems that make Agamar look like Coruscant in comparison. One of my first postings was a garrison on a planet where the natives were really fond of them. Got shot point blank in the face more than once. Slugs just ricocheted right off my visor, one time it bounced right back and hit the shooter in the stomach."

"I'm guessing that's why they're not very popular?"

The Commander nodded in reply.

"They're practically useless against anything wearing any kind of protection, even most civilian body armour will give you adequate protection from slugs like these. I've only ever seen them give Imperial Army troopers trouble, against Stormtroopers they might as well be throwing rocks."

Ezra nodded, though secretly that made him even more uneasy. He was about to continue the conversation when something caught his attention. He stopped, mentally honing in on a slight ripple in the Force.

"Ayer, I think somebody's watching us."

The Stormtrooper Commander, already on the alert, gripped his blaster tighter, ready for a fight.

"Should I be getting ready for some kind of ambush?"

Ezra thought for a moment, then shook his head.

"I'm not sensing any hostile intent."

Reaching to his helmet, Aryer made it appear as though he was listening to something on his comm when in fact he was scanning the area for threats with the holographic heads up display.

"Ok then, so why is this specific pair of eyes setting your sense off as opposed to the legion of locals who've been gawking at us since we landed?"

"I don't know." Ezra replied, looking around behind his back.

He scanned his surroundings until his eyes settled on a particularly jittery Narivan he hadn't seen before. Turning back to Ayer he subtly signalled with a glance in its direction.

"That's him, that's the one."

A quick glance allowed Ayer to capture the area and returned his focus on Ezra.

"You sure? He doesn't look like much."

"I know, there's just something with him."

Ayer's gaze focused on the feathery biped for a few seconds, just long enough to alert him. The red feathered Narivan quickly skittered behind a pillar. In the distance, Ayer noted the arrival of one of the local flying craft touching down on another pad, as for the indigene he saw no indication of it being a threat. Knowing that the native's weapons could do no harm and the fact that the Jedi's danger senses, which had been so helpful in their last jam, weren't going off he was unsure whether to call out and chase it off or to simply have his troops positioned around the area come in and detain it. It was then he caught a glint of something metal in its grasp.

On instinct he went into action.

Ezra heard the click and static of a commlink come from Ayer but no sound came from the helmet annunciator. The Stormtrooper was communicating on a private frequency and the instant it clicked he got the sense of urgency from across the plaza as two white armoured figures moved with determination to get behind the distracted Narivan.

The two Stormtroopers snated him up and pinned him to the ground, Ayer quickly pivoted from his position and Ezra rose up behind him as he went towards them. The small Narivan squawked in protest but before it could raise its voice an armoured hand claimed its beak shut as it struggled before its sounds could attract any of the Sentinel Guards.

As it flailed the device it had been holding slipped from its grasp and Ayer caught it on his approach with his boot then picked it up.

"Get a translation droid over here, we'll need to question it."

As Ezra came up to Ayers' side he saw the creature he had sensed. Slightly shorter in height to him, its feathers were well kept and seemed to be a youth and wore a coat of similar cut to that of the Professor who had been with President Reelak, Kreel he recalled the name. Then his eyes met the avian eyes, his muffled cries followed by tears as he was held down by the troopers pinning him to the ground.

"What did he have?" Ezra asked, quickly looking at the blocky device in Ayers' gloved hand.

"It's some form of digital device, a sort of scanner by the looks and this looks like an auditory pickup. If I were to guess, it's listening device"

The Commander turned his helmeted gaze down at the quivering pile of feathers on the ground.

"Looks like we have a spy"

He squirmed under their grip, fear evident in its eyes. It looked to Ayer, then to Ezra, the low moan it let out imploring.

"Ayer… Is there anything there that makes him a threat? Is it a remote for a bomb or anything?"

He inspected it once more with equal diligence.

"No, it appears to simply be a directionally focused audio pickup with a lot of storage. We won't know exactly what he's got on it until we get him talking."

Ezra frowned and took the device. He made an inspection of it, his limited technical abilities conforming what Ayer's more trained eye already told them. Then he looked to Ayer.

"Let him go."

"What?" He turned to look at Ezra

He's done nothing wrong that you can prove, we don't want to cause an incident.

"True, but if he's a spy we can't just let him go."

"And if he's not we risk causing a problem for no reason."

"If you're falling for that teary look you need to reevaluate exactly what you've done for the Rebellion to look innocent in front of Imperial troops to do what you've done."

Ezra winced, recalling times where he played helpless to trick the witless troops of the Lothal garrison. But as he reached out to the force, he still felt nothing that indicated anything other than his attention on them. Even now the Narivan seemed focused on him.

"I'll take responsibility if it happens then, please let him go."

For a long moment, Commander's polarised lenses stared down into Ezra's steady eyes.

"Alright, let him go."

The two troopers kneeling on the avian got up and hoisted him to his feet. As it steadied on its taloned feet, Ezra held out the device. Over his shoulder he could feel Ayers glare on him.

It quickly grasped the tool and slowly bobbed its head in an attempt to bow politely before scurrying off, leaving the Imperials and Ezra alone.

Skirk hurried away back into the halls of the Presidential Complex, glancing behind him and holding the delicate audio recorder tightly against his feathered chest. He breathed a sigh of relief. His translation project had been making some headway. The audio samples recorded during diplomatic meetings and from idle chatter between the no-feathers had finally been beginning to yield results.

But he had made a miscalculation when he saw two of the aliens speaking with each other on the balcony. The soldiers rarely spoke aloud, and the opportunity to record the younger one was too good to pass up.

But his eagerness had caused him to slip up.

The noisy Defintar Rotor Carrier making its pass had made getting a clear recording of the sound to be difficult. In an attempt to correct this he had moved closer, and when he had stopped to configure the audio transceiver he saw only too late the no-feather soldiers jumping him from every angle.

His heart had skipped a beat when the device hit the floor. For days he'd been piecing it together and now all his work had seemingly fallen apart right in front of him. Visions of his career falling apart and the Professor's profound disappointment had loomed over him. The No-feathers in their skeletal armour stared down at him with empty black eyes.

Then the aide appeared to take pity on him. He maintained his professionalism, sure, but it was obvious that the alien somehow Skirk's intentions weren't malicious.

Sighing again, Skirk looked down at his recorder to assess the damage.

Only to realise it was still recording, and had been for the duration of his confrontation.

His eyes perking up, he pressed the rewind button, and then stood in shock as an audio recording of the entire encounter played back before him.

It had picked up everything, and at a perfect range.

He smirked. Skirk had been so eager to get away from the soldiers that he hadn't had a chance to adequately thank the aide, but the translator working he might be able to thank the blue eyed no-feather himself.

Admiral Carala looked out from behind his desk at the view of the Imperial ship sitting on the long stretch of the Presidential Complex landing area. Ever since their arrival on Neriva, the No-feathers had claimed the area which was reserved for arriving heads of state and members of the fleet visiting the Narivan Council or President Reelak. Now this Thrawn used it at his convenience, him and his white ghouls. Who was this offworlder to come and threaten his people for aid? Their world had suffered from overt invasion, how long until these outsiders simply used more covert methods to simply subvert them and plant their flag on the mountain tops where there's now proudly flew?

He paced away from the view, moving to a drink cabinet in his office and taking a crystal glass in a feathered grasp. Removing an old vintage from the cabinet and filling his glass, he looked to a wall of his memorabilia collected throughout the years. Medals, citations, and trinkets from his youth fighting against the Vagaari oppressors and his long subsequent military career.. With a sneer at one of the horrid creature's masks he sat back at his desk and looked down into his drink.

The soft shuffling of the carpet behind him was his only warning.

"Admiral Carala, I presume?" A voice cooed across the room.

Carala's head jerked up from his drink. A Narivan he didn't recognize had entered his office chamber.

"Who are you? How did you get in here!?"

He immediately rose to his feet, old combat reflexes sharpening on the intruder who simply held his wings wide in a placating gesture.

"Relax Admiral, I mean you no harm."

"Who are you!?" Carala snapped.

The intruder's beak quirked up at that.

"One who is here to give you a private offer."

"Then leave, make an appointment." Carala bit out. He eyed the young intruder carefully, her dark dusty feathers indicated she hailed from the lower cliffs but her bearing was all too sure, almost businesslike, the calm but determined gleam in her eyes made this intrusion too questionable for him to simply dismiss without investigating. Even so the cliffer's composure and attitude of mild amusement ruffled the Admiral, this interruption of his reverie only made him feel worse inside.

"Oh I think not sir, such things should be kept off parchment." Moving to a seat in front of his desk she gestured for the Admiral to sit. "Please, my words are for you alone, noble one."

Carala didn't move but the young cliffer sat down. Once she did Carala did likewise.

"Now then Admiral, I represent a number of concerned citizens with misgivings, they believe you sir to be of a similar feather."

"And what do these citizens want with me?" Carala asked.

"To talk, for you like them to accept what you believe and what we all know."

"Enough with that." The Admiral huffed impatiently. "I have no interest in hearing one's voice through the echoes of the cavern. Speak plainly, what is it they want?"

"Decisive and to the point." She nodded in satisfaction. "That is exactly why you were selected, noble sir. You see, these individuals among the Narivan believe that we risk too much with no feathers. That we invite ourselves to be slowly taken in with promises and words so that these weakened offworlder might subdue us without weapons. You have thought this too have you not?"

Carla felt his beak click at the remark, he had indeed thought of this ever since those outsiders first set foot on the mountain's outcrop. Ever since he had felt his objections pushed to the side, his misgivings seamingly ignored.

"And so what? There is little that can be done now, what is your hope to achieve here?"

"Change, change for the better. Together with you we can see this change happen."

"And what is this… change you propose?" Carla asked, a sinking feeling in his bones telling him he would not like the answer.

The pointed smile that met him across the desk was menacing enough to send a shiver of memory down his back, the look of a warrior ready to charge into death to claim his enemies life.

"Many things, it is agreed that the council is too focused on the gains of the nest and not risks to the flock. Reelak might not be most capable leader, perhaps it is time for others to lead."

Carala hissed, even if what this one said mirrored his innermost contemplations, he still wouldn't sit idly by and let this hatchling insult his friend.

"Reelak has been President for long, long time. A more than capable leader. Kept Federation together through the harshness of the rebuilding and the forging of ties between the states."

"But has he lead Narivan through anything like this Admiral? No-feathers at our door, being welcomed as friends. This situation we face currently, no precedent for it, for how we should act?"

"Reelak has not handled situation how I would have. However, his methods so far seem to work. As long as it continues to work in our favour, I will let him handle it. Now you will answer my question.."

"Which question is that Admiral?"

"Who are you?"

The other Narivan paused for a moment, contemplating how to answer.

"There are… groups, within the Federation, groups neither you nor Reelak are aware of. Groups that take action we deem necessary for our Species' future."

"What help do these groups offer?"

"It is what you offer that has my employers treating with you thus. Military already supports you noble Admiral, you are war hero, a leader. But member states, governments will have to give you approval. We have ways of assuring that our voices will be heard."

Carala's eyes narrowed, his distrust keeping him on guard.

"And what would you have in return?"

The other Narivan shrugged.

"Nothing."

Carala's eyes narrowed.

"Nobody ever desires nothing."

"I said before, we work for the good of our species, Admiral. That in itself is reward enough."

"I still do not trust you."

"You do not need to. You need only trust yourself, for that is all a soldier can rely on."

Then the intruder arose, looking out over the view beyond him.

"The gale will be sweeping changes through these cliffs soon Admiral. You are needed to steer a course. The masters of fate do not intend to wait long, tell me Admiral. Do you truly believe what's going on is right?"

"I swore an oath when I took this command" Reelak replied "My duty demands I obey."

His answer only elicited a furtive smile directed down at him from over his desk.

"You didn't answer my question Admiral. Perhaps you still need to answer it yourself along with another question, an oath to whom?"

And with a nod, she left out the door. Leaving Admiral Carala in his office, alone with his guilt and a choice.

Sorry this took so long. Yes I'm still updating this. If it's any consolation I wrote a lot of extra stuff that wasn't used in this chapter, which will probably mean the next chapter will be out soon.