A/N: Welcome to another chapter! I did get to "Through Imperial Eyes." As promised and were actually gonna focus on the end of that particular episode mostly because we are trying to involve Faith here and since she only really appears at the end. Assume everything prior to where I pick up happens as normal.
I know this is late on Sunday ( probably well into not Sunday for some timezones ) I had this done but I just got really busy today and kind sorta forgot to post it sorryyyyyyyyy.
Other than that, I don't really have much to say so I'm going to let you guys jump into it enjoy!
Disclaimer: I forgot to give a disclaimer with the last chapter so this is for you Disney. You're Welcome.
Chapter Six
Inside the Clock
Eleven Days after leaving Sabine
When Ezra accepted the mission to board the Imperial cruiser and rescue Kallus he really didn't think it would result in his current situation. Running through the halls of Thrawn's personal Star destroyer. Kallus ran beside him, they looked almost like they belonged in Ezra's Imperial garb.
They rounded the corner into the hanger bay only to watch in dismay as governor price slammed her knee into a Stormtrooper dropping him to the ground. Ezra could only assume that that wasn't a Stormtrooper but actually Kanan and or Rex.
As soon as the 'Stormtrooper' connected with the ground Faith appeared from the top ramp, leveling her blasters at the governor and opening fire.
Price ducked under the fire but continued her fist match with the other 'Stormtrooper' making sure to keep them in line with her and Faith so the Mandolorian couldn't take a shot without risk of hitting an ally.
Ezra swung his head around as more Stormtroopers rounded the corner blasters ready. "Chopper seal the door!" Ezra hissed as the droid rolled up next to him.
The Astromech quickly followed his orders and the large hangar doors slid close. Kallus ran off in the opposite direction and Ezra was about to yell after Kallus but made no mention of it, rather running forward to help with Pyrce.
He heard Rex comment something before engaging the governor again, Faith did her best to line up a shot but she continued to hold her fire, Pyrce not letting up for even a second.
Suddenly without warning and to Ezra's complete surprise an Imperial officer appeared behind the two stunning Pyrce with a quick shot. Ezra barely had time to react before he kept running forward helping the first Stormtrooper up who happened to be Kanan.
"Trooper!" The officer yelled, in the back of his mind he recognized the voice somewhat but it's not like he had time to stop and ask.
He simply gave him a glance and a mock salute. "Bad choice."
The officer paled and gave him the most confused look he probably mustered, Suddenly Kallus tackled the poor guy. Ezra cocked his head to the side before motioning with his hand.
"Common Kallus lets go." The agent didn't move, just briefly hovered over his pistol with his fingers.
"The plan has changed now that I've captured Fulcrum…" Kallus said through gritted teeth.
Ezra stared back at him confused and was about to protest before he felt the shuttle lift off the ground. "Ezra we're launching!" He heard Faith call from the back.
Ezra glanced back at Kallus and gave him an affirmative nod. "I can do more good here." He finally stated trying to reassure Ezra.
The ramp on the shuttle sealed shut and Ezra stepped back in deep thought as Faith ran up to him. "Where's Fulcrum?" she asked to the empty cargo bay
"He's staying…" Ezra said carefully.
They both said nothing as they walked to the cockpit where Rex and Kanan both were resting from the fight with the governor.
"Well this mission was about as close to failing as they get… Where's Kallus?" Kanan asked, looking upon their entrance.
"He's staying, he has a plan…" Ezra repeated his gaze distant.
"This isn't good…" Rex thought aloud for all of them.
"Why not?" Faith inquired looking at all of them with confusion written into her expression. "I mean if he has a plan shouldn't we trust him?" She clarified.
"That's not the problem, it's just that Thrawn is close to finding the base as it is… If he somehow figures out Kallus then this could lead to more than just us losing our inside spy… We could lose all of the base." Kanan answered, glancing out the viewport.
"Well Kallus is good, this Thrawn guy can't be that good can he?" Faith retorted, causing everyone to look at her in partial shock.
Lots of examples of Thrawn's brilliance flashed through Ezra's eyes. How quickly he figured out Hera and his deception on Ryloth he always seemed to be one step ahead of them and it didn't seem that he would ever reverse the roles. You couldn't defeat Thrawn, you could only outlive him.
"Thrawn isn't good." Ezra started meeting her eyes. "He's excellent."
The Chiss stared deeply at the star map, his thoughts swirling furiously. 94 planets, Realistically in a galaxy with thousands it was nothing. To Thrawn and his resources it was too much, it would only delay him, it would not defeat him. 9 systems. The rebellion was close he could feel it.
His back still ached from when his assassin droid had thrown him into the piece of retaining wall and he briefly allowed his thoughts to clear to mentally assess himself for any further injury. Upon the detection of none he sighed returning his gaze back to the map.
He had already studied it, and found no clue of treachery, but he had to be sure. He was so close to finding the base and he couldn't let anything possibly rip victory from his hands.
With a reluctant sigh he forced the holomap to disappear and pulled up the various camera footage of this afternoon's attack. He already had Admiral Yuleran's report and he had called a meeting that would begin shortly.
The hanger seemed empty, quiet, that air of Imperial order that all hangers should carry. The shuttle rose through the lower doors settling itself lightly on the ground. Thrawn noted the calmness with which the ship was piloted, however not perfectly, the landing was too shaky, the ship came in ever so slightly too fast.
Hera Sydulla did not fly the shuttle. If she did, the landing would've been executed with every bit of Imperial protocol and perfection that was plausible, and then some. Silence retained itself when Governor Pyrce and her Stormtrooper escort approached the unmoving shuttle.
The ramp lowered and two Stormtroopers exited meeting the governor halfway. Thrawn didn't pause the video for he had previously inspected it up to this point he watched with somewhat disinterest, when the Governor began her attack and the disguised rebels began their assault dispatching of the two troopers quickly leaving them to deal with the governor alone.
Thrawn could not see the blast doors below as they were out of the cameras range but he imagined this was where the escaped prisoner had come to, supposedly to be rescued by the rebels. Thrawn's gears turned as he further watched, although his interest peaked when a Mandalorian showed themselves attempting to fire on the governor.
This interested Thrawn, this was very intriguing indeed, he stared at the picture, he knew this Mandolorian was in fact not Sabine Wren. He knew her amour pattern well and this rather uncolorful Mando was not her. More interesting so it seemed the Prisoner judging by their reaction or rather lack thereof knows of this Mandolorian.
Thrawn continued the video making a mental note to contact Saxon and ask what Mandolorian clan this rebel was a part of. He knew of some rather interesting developments in research on the Mandalore front and he was curious about these as well. His call with the Mandalorian figure head would indeed be an enlightening one.
He counted to watch, he did note that the shuttle thief wore a typical Imperial officer's uniform, one of similar design to the one he saw run out of his office, whom he had assumed was Lyste. While the video continued on Thrawn pulled up reports on Lyste, his eyes scanning the plethora of data before him.
What stood out to him was reports of failure, reports of mediocre outcomes, sloppy, not exactly top tier rebel spy. This Lyste certainly was no Imperial necessity and was exactly the type of officer Thrawn detested. He watched Lyste appear from behind the crates and stun Pyrce, yelling something the audio on the camera could never hope to pick up.
What happened next intrigued him to a new level. Kallus tackled Lyste, this was as far as Admiral Yularen's eye witness report extended. However what he saw made Thrawn hesitate, the cogs in his head furiously spinning with new information.
Kallus hesitated while staring at the lowered shuttle ramp, his hand was on his blaster yet he wasn't aiming it at the shuttle thief disguised as an Imperial officer, infact his couple of seconds of unmoving could almost be mistaken for a conversation between the two.
Then Kallus retrieved his pistol, his shots going wide of the shuttle, and only when the shuttle left the hangar did he stop firing, picking up Lyste and thrusting him into the hands of the approaching Stormtroopers.
Thrawn placed a hand on his chin deep in thought, the part of the equation that still baffled him was the officers uniform on the shuttle thief, if it was indeed the shuttle thief that was in his office not Lyste then that would make Lyste innocent, and simply being led to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. However it failed to explain his stunning of Governor Pyrce.
Kallus's hesitation was also an interesting factor, him tackling Lyste, rather, his sudden appearance in the hanger as a whole puzzled Thrawn. Why was he not firing blaster shots earlier? Thrawn removed his hand, clearing the video feed and reports. This puzzle was not yet solved, things did not click together as they should.
Lyste was not the traitor.
He turned, briefly walking out of his office towards the Stormtrooper guard at the door, "Trooper." The well trained soldier strengthened upon being addressed by a superior officer.
"Head to the detention block and acquire the shuttle thief effects. Anything that was left behind." Thrawn finished.
The trooper nodded without hesitation and quickly departed from the room jogging off towards the detention center.
As Thrawn was about to submerge himself further in his work a knock came to his door. He let it slide open to find Admiral Konstantine and Admiral Yularen. The two straightened at his sudden appearance. They had been expecting a trooper.
"Greetings, Admiral's please come in." Thrawn said, extending his hands towards his officer.
"My congratulations in swiftly ending the threat of a spy Grand Admiral." Konstatine said dryly, giving him a dip of his head in respect.
Thrawn didn't believe his political bullshit for a second. He was aware Konstantine didn't like him, and thought that he could do Thrawn's job the same if not better than he himself could. Konstantine was exactly the kind of officer Thrawn had learned to deal with, worried about the politics and not the battle tactics. Concerned with the glory and not the completion of the mission. He couldn't see the bigger picture and he let his status cloud his judgment causing him to fail to see the most obvious solutions.
It was exactly the kind of officer Thrawn had grown to resent. It was exactly the kind of officer that would fail so greatly one day it might cost the Empire dearly. Or rather for Thrawn's purposes, it would cost him dearly.
"Thank you Admiral…" Thrawn said equally as void of emotion as he turned towards Yularen.
"I thank you for your assistance. Your reputation precedes you well." Thrawn commented some actual admiration in his tone.
Yularen considered Thrawn for a brief moment before giving him a nod of respect and recognition.
While Konstantine unnerved Thrawn, Yularen was exactly the kind of officer that Thrawn didn't mind, even respected to a certain degree.
He, unlike Konstantine, understood that sometimes politics didn't matter as much as victory did. He was able to look at the bigger picture; he was able to look past his own political gains and see what was necessary for the greater good of the entire Empire. Something that Thrawn was deeply grateful for.
"If you could remain with me after I dismiss the meeting I desire a few brief words." Thrawn gave it out as an order but posed it as a question.
"Of course." Yularen assured him with a confident nod, his lips still pulled into a straight face.
Thrawn stepped to the side just as Governor Pyrce and Agent Kallus arrived. Pyrce always irked Thrawn; she wasn't quite as bad as Konstantine but she often had a maniacal, deranged way of doing things that he found unhonorable.
Kallus had always interested Thrawn and he believed that had the ISB agent not felt so inclined to be in the field all the time then he might have made an exceptional officer. He was one of the more capable Imperial soldiers he knew, and probably someone he would've selected for service aboard his personal star destroyer had he had the opportunity earlier in Kallu's career.
Shame that he was now in the potential line as a traitor.
Thrawn did not want to believe that Fulcrum was Kallus but the more he turned it over in the back of his mind the more that that seemed to be the likely option.
"Agent Kallus, Governor Pyrce… Come in, we're about to start." Thrawn motioned as he turned on his heel briskly walking into his office as the party of four followed.
He watched Kallus in particular, another thought occurred to him, he and Lyste had watched him earlier with the assassin droids, either of them would've known about his override code and therefore they had to disable it however upon inspection of both their records only one truly had the capability to do so.
As he sat at the desk the other four joined him taking a seat save for Kallus, they all looked expectantly at Thrawn who simply nodded to Yularen. "Did your research further prove our theory?" He asked evenly.
"Yes, Lyste's code cylinder proves that he used it to turn off security cameras, release the prisoner and access Thrawn's office." Yularen stated glancing at the others in the meeting.
Thrawn had to take another moment to consider another point of confusion: if the shuttle thief was indeed just a shuttle thief, or even just a regular Rebel operative, why would they be willing to risk so much to get the thief back?
He continued to maul over the point, his head pounding, the answer just within, yet just outside, of his reach.
"I have my own proof of Lyste's treachery…" Pyrce carried on as she rubbed her shoulder. "Thank you Agent Kallus, for saving my life." She added after a moment with a brief glance at the ISB Agent.
"Yes, congratulations are in order, Agent." Konstantine agreed.
Yularen had a look somewhat akin to pride on his face. Thrawn didn't say anything mulling over the facts of an already well established case. The pieces of the puzzle didn't fit, they did not slide into place like they should. It was too easy.
"Unfortunately I could not stop him in time to make an attempt on the Grand Admirals life. I am sorry." Kallus said, dragging Thrawn from the depths of his thoughts.
Thrawn took his addressmet as a chance to look at Kallus and analyze all his features, his expression, the way he carried his eyes, the way he spoke the words, everything. Thoughts flew through his head at unprecedented speeds as he placed a hand on his chin in thought.
Standing up he nodded to Kallus. He'd heard enough, it was time to look at the last bit of evidence required to solidify his theory.
"No apologies necessary, he did not succeed." Thrawn said, watching the faintest twitch of a brow of Kallus.
Thrawn let the silence hang for a small bit longer before waving his hand. "You are dismissed, alert everyone that Lyste is now a known traitor and that he is no longer an officer. Destroy his code cylinder as soon as possible."
"Yes Admiral." Pyrce said robotically, as her, Konstantine, and Kallus got up exiting his office leaving it just him and Yularen.
"Things have fallen into place just a little bit too perfectly for me…" He said carefully before Thrawn asked a question.
"And I do not believe that Lyste is capable of the complicated and rather genius actions the rebel spy took and has taken." He added after words glancing at the wall for a brief distraction.
"Yes… I for one agree…" Thrawn said briefly walking towards the retaining wall. His suspicions were growing by the minute, he just needed to confirm them.
Yularen didn't say anything more as the door opened and a Stormtrooper entered, setting down a helmet and the table. "This was all there was, Sir." The Stormtrooper said, carefully setting the helmet down on Thrawn's desk.
Thrawn quickly scanned over the headwear, his thoughts spinning. The design wasn't exactly like anything he'd seen but it was close enough for him to take an educated guess that it was a loth cat judging by other works and his previous research.
Also the lines and the style reminded him of one particular Mandalorian artist he knew quite well. Sabine Wren. He also knew there were few people who would wear a helmet painted by Sabine Wren. One of those being Ezra Bridger Jedi, and possibly the supposed shuttle thief.
Taken separately it meant nothing wasn't connected but when one looked at the bigger picture and realized that Kallus should've recognized Bridger from the start and turned him in straight to Thrawn. The fact he didn't, painted him guiltier than any other evidence ever would.
"Are you ok Admiral?" Yularen asked, concern breaking into his voice.
"Do you know what this is?" Thrawn asked as he walked closer to the hat indicating the Loth cat on top as he lifted it up studying it closer.
Yularen seemed a bit put off by the dodging of his previous question but to his credit he didn't flinch at all, simply looking at the helmet as if trying to actually determine the answer to his question, not that he could possibly know.
"Some sort of beast?" He finally responded, tilting his head to show his uncertainty.
"It's a rather stylistic impression of a Loth cat." Thrawn corrected, setting the helmet back down.
Yularen didn't comment further, just let Thrawn explain his thinking, "The lines and the details all point to this work being by Sabine Wren, like the work on the wall behind me…" He said tucking his hands behind his back the gears in his mind slowly stopping as he began to figure out the mystery.
"There are few that would dawn Sabine's artwork, fewer still that match the description of our prisoner. I believe our supposed "Shuttle Thief" is none other than the Jedi padawan Ezra Bridger."
Thrawn let that sink in turning towards Yularen.
"Then why didn't Kallus tell us the thief was bridger!" Yularen protested although Thrawn could see the answer to his question click into his head.
"Because… Agent Kallus is the rebel Fulcrum…" Thrawn concluded a bit of a smile threatening to break his expression.
"I would never have expected my star pupil to be capable of such treachery…" Yularen said a bit dumbstruck.
"That is the point…" Thrawn turned back to his desk…
The red planets appeared again highlighted in a red ninety four. He had not yet resorted to simply hyperspace jumping to each one and checking for rebel activity although he was very close to attempting that kind of madness if only to relieve himself of this pain.
Although he had solved the mystery of Fulcrum, the gears in his head still turned to a new plan slowly beginning to form in his head. This new Mandolorian was an interesting key to the puzzle and it made him wonder in particular where the usual Mandolorian Sabine Wren.
He let a smile form on his lips at the idea that she had died although he didn't think himself that lucky. She was simply not with the rebels that much was certain. The true question was if not with her Rebel friends then where.
Thrawn let a creepy smile take hold of his face as he ran through what the consequences for the rebels would be if he could take out the Mandalorian, particularly the Jedi Ezra Bridger.
"What are we to do, Grand Admiral?" Yularen asked. Thrawn had practically forgotten he was in the room.
Thrawn shut off the holomap, turning back to the ISB Colonel. "I believe that Agent Fulcrum will soon prove to me more useful to us than Agent Kallus ever was."
A/N: OK Feels a bit cheap and kind of a copy of the ending of "Through Imperial eyes." But I wanted to write Thrawn and guess what. I LOVE IT. Almost as much as watching/reading Thrawn. Almost. Also I tired to change that ending line around but come on, IT'S JUST SO AMAZING I CAN'T REPLACE OML I LOVE THRAWN BRING HIM BACK IN ASHOKA PLEASE
Ahem Moving forward.
This chapter didn't go in the direction I originally planned but I like it. This new direction is certainly interesting. I'm a big believer in the butterfly effect so in short I do believe that Thrawn simply seeing Faith could change so many things. So I'm not going to spoil anything but things are certainly not going to be exactly the same as they played out in the show.
That being said next week will not be The episode where they get Mon Mothma ( I forgot the name sue me. )
Speaking of the next chapter it might be late, if it is blame Exams Ima be getting no sleep and be tired as hell, blame the education system but I'll try cause I love you guys :
Next week ( maybe ) We'll get to see more Faith crew interaction should be a fun ride. I think that's everything. I hope I'm forgetting nothing…
Stay safe!
See you all next Sunday!