Thank you all for your response to the last chapter. I knew Thrawn's appearance would cause a stir, but everyone was very supportive. There were plenty of speculations on whether Thrawn is a friend or a foe, and if he will remain one or the other. I want to clarify right now that Thrawn does not know Palpatine is Sidious. It wouldn't mean much to him if he did, but he doesn't. You'll find out more of why he's here in this chapter. The only other thing I'll say here is that I've got a very long term plan for his character.

As I have for too many chapters now, I ask anyone who can afford to do so to contribute what you can to Ukraine and her people. Thank you for those who have done so already.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Chapter 53

"So who are you?" Naruto asked. "I mean, I know your name, but why'd the Chancellor send you to us? And where are you from, anyway? Your shuttle wasn't from anywhere in the Republic. Neither is that uniform."

Mace did not so much as look at him as he talked with their new… guest? Ally? Subordinate? Naruto wasn't sure. What he did know was Mace was listening to every word they said, and monitoring Thrawn's emotions, muted as they were, through his own empathy. It was a technique they'd developed for assessing people of unknown temperament and trustworthiness. Surprisingly, there was no irritation or reluctance in the face of his tide of questions. Just a tiny bit of amusement and, maybe, a touch of approval.

"I have told you my name," Thrawn answered in Meese Caulf. "And you are correct. My people are not of the Republic. I come from the Chiss Ascendancy, the chief power in the Chaos. I believe you refer to that part of space as the Unknown Regions."

His answer spawned a dozen more questions, but Naruto filed most of them away for later. He could sate his curiosity after he determined if this newcomer was trustworthy. The Chancellor's recommendation carried weight, but neither he nor his master was free with their trust these days. Not when it could impact their men.

"So, you were part of your people's military?" At Thrawn's nod, he pressed forward. "Then how'd you end up out here? And how come Chancellor Palpatine gets to send you to us? Not that we're not happy to have you, but it's kinda weird."

Thrawn tilted his head as if considering, and nodded slightly. "I suppose it is at that. I do not know all the particulars, but I will share what I can. The Syndicure, our civilian government, has been in talks with your Republic for the past year. My people face numerous threats, some of whom have begun allying against us. Gaining allies of our own seemed prudent, and tales of the Republic persist even millennia after our last dealings. I do not pretend to know the minutiae, but as part of the negotiations, the Republic agreed to share certain technologies in exchange for the loan of experienced military officers."

Things started to clarify in Naruto's mind. "Technology like shields, I'm guessing. And maybe blasters. But why you?"

Thrawn smiled. "Precisely. Such devices are virtually unknown in the Chaos. We have our own equivalents in some cases, but Republic technology is generally well advanced of our own. As for why I was chosen, well… I became politically inconvenient. A victim of my own success, or so I am told. I do not understand politics myself, and telling even what little I do know would take hours, but suffice to say, my continued presence in the Ascendancy would have been problematic for several powerful individuals. This arrangement was at least preferable to permanent exile. Your Chancellor was eager to accept my services when offered. I am now Captain Thrawn of the Republic Navy, assigned to your command, General Windu."

His face was as icy calm as ever, his voice still level, but there was nothing muted about his emotions now. There was indignation, bitterness, a hint of sorrow, and more than a hint of anger. There were also a few flecks of guilt and wariness, now. He was hiding something. Not lying, but not telling the whole truth. There was more to his quasi-exile than he was saying.

'He is entitled to his people's secrets,' Mace said in his mind. 'No doubt there is more to these negotiations than he is saying, but that is not our business here. I believe we can trust him. You?'

'Yes. It doesn't matter why his people didn't want him around. I don't think he's a bad person, and he wants to help us. I say we let him.'

Mace sent a mental nod and spoke up. "We will be glad of any help you can offer us, captain. Did the Chancellor brief you on what we are currently facing?"

"Only the broad strokes. The situation was too dynamic for a more comprehensive briefing. I understand I am to help you find a weapon of some sort."

"More or less," Mace said. Between the two of them, they got Thrawn caught up on the major points of their tactical and strategic situation by the time they reached the bridge. If the sight of a blue skinned, red-eyed alien in a foreign uniform among them provoked anything more than mild interest among the bridge crew, Naruto couldn't detect it. The clones leaned heavily towards pragmatism, and if he and Mace weren't concerned about Thrawn, they wouldn't waste energy worrying about him either. Thrawn himself wasted no time in getting to work.

"Please show me the location of all previous attacks," he said with a gesture to the holotable. "Even ones that are not confirmed to be the work of this weapon. It is better to discard erroneous data later than to miss vital information now."

Naruto pulled up the necessary data and overlaid it on a map of the Corellian Run. Orange dots marked every site they suspected of being an attack by the mystery weapon. Not all of them were, of course. Some had happened too fast and too far apart to be the work of the same attacker. Others had not had sufficient impact on their forces to be Grievous' work. The cyborg general always went for the throat, it seemed. Naruto pointed out which sites he suspected were the weapon and which he thought were just skirmishes gone against the Republic, but Thrawn's eyes never left the map. Naruto didn't doubt he heard every word, though, and fit them into whatever picture was forming in his head. There was an air of utmost concentration about Thrawn. He was at once an engineer eyeing some unknown machine and a predator sizing up its next meal. Naruto was getting a sense of why the Chancellor had sent the man to them.

"The one in charge of this weapon, General Grievous. What do you know of him?" Thrawn's voice cut through the quiet like a shark through the ocean's depths. "Are there recordings of him? Intelligence on his species or homeworld? His background? Any previous campaigns?"

"We know very little about Grievous," Mace answered. "Not his species, not his past, not even his real name. As far as our spies have been able to uncover, he appeared out of nowhere just over a year ago at Dooku's side. We have a few recordings of him in battle, but nothing with any value."

Despite Mace's grim words, Thrawn visibly brightened. "Oh, I disagree, general. Even a momentary glimpse of our foe in battle may have tremendous value to me."

"To you?" Naruto asked. "But not to us?"

"I have… a gift," Thrawn said. He did not sound arrogant about it, or even all that proud. It was a fact to him, no more worthy of pride than that he had feet. "I can see patterns and connections others often cannot. To defeat an enemy, it is essential to know them. More than just their military accomplishments or their tactical disposition. Anything can provide information vital to forming a plan. Art, music, clothing. I have drawn vital insights from all of those in the past. If you have any recordings of this Grievous, I would like to see them."

"If you think you can get something from it," Naruto said, and for the first time, Thrawn's unreadable mask cracked. It was only for a moment, but he looked surprised.

"What? Do you not want to see them?"

Thrawn shook his head. "Forgive me. I am accustomed to greater skepticism when I speak of my methods. Those who have not seen me work before, and many of those who have, seldom trust what I can do."

Naruto shrugged. "You weren't lying. If you think you can get something out of the footage, then you should try."

It took a minute to dig out the shaky clips of Grievous the intel team had pulled from clone helmet recorders on Hypori. The footage was shaky, barely comprehensible sometimes, and very short. All told, they'd recovered just over two minutes of footage that actually included Grievous. Two minutes in which the cyborg wiped out the combined equivalent of an entire company of clones. That was after he'd already slaughtered three Jedi and maimed another two. Naruto and Mace had both seen the footage a dozen times before. Every Jedi had. Grievous seemed to have a special hatred for Jedi. In every battle he'd fought, the cyborg had made a special point of trying to kill any Jedi present. More often than not, he'd succeeded. Every Jedi with a field clearance had spent the past month or more picking apart what they knew of his fighting style, finding weaknesses, making plans.

It was grisly stuff, even after seeing it a dozen times over, but Thrawn didn't so much as flinch. Not when three clones all lost their heads in one stroke. Not when another had his skull crushed to a pulp by one metal clawed foot. Not even when Grievous punched a hole straight through a clone's chest. That same icy calm took hold of him again. Naruto doubted anything less than a lightning strike would phase him when he was like this. Those glowing red eyes let nothing escape their notice, and he could almost hear each detail being examined, categorized, and filed away for future reference.

"Commander Uzumaki, you are familiar with the technology of this region of the galaxy." It wasn't a question, but Naruto nodded anyway. "What can you tell me about these prosthetics? I have never seen anything like them."

Naruto frowned at the frozen image of the cyborg with all four arms separated, clawed feet striding over the dismembered corpses of clones. "No one has. They're all custom made. Nothing to trace back to any manufacturer."

"Mmm." Thrawn pursed his lips thoughtfully. "That may be, but an engineer such as yourself must be able to tell a great deal from the design. This… being is a warrior. One such as he would not go into battle unless his prosthetics were exactly to his liking. How they are designed and set up may tell us a great deal about him. What can you say?"

'How the hell does he know I'm an engineer?' Thrawn certainly hadn't been exaggerating when he said he could see things others did not. Naruto had never thought of psychoanalyzing droid parts before, but it made sense. He could always tell Anakin's work at a glance, and vice versa. There was as much art to engineering as science, and even the most basic stylistic choices reflected the maker's mind. He looked at the mechanical components with a fresh eye.

"Whatever his species is, they don't naturally have four arms," he mused. "Those were specially added. Hyper-mobility in the joints, same with the legs, and reinforced servos for extra durability. Speed, agility, and durability. He's designed to fight Jedi."

He frowned at a clip of Grievous charging through a squad of clones with his lightsabers whirling. Limbs flew through the air along with screams.

"He's designed to fight us with our own weapons," he amended. "Close in, but mobile. He could have armored himself to the eyes and back, but he didn't. He's light. Vulnerable. He wants to fight like a Jedi, even if it's not the best option for him."

Thrawn nodded thoughtfully. "How much effort would you say he went to in order to achieve that goal?"

Naruto shrugged. "A lot? I mean, between the extra arms and the crazy joints, he has to have a direct brain interface for the limbs. That's risky surgery, with a long recovery time. Even with that, it would take years of training to control everything like he is." He cocked his head at Thrawn. "Does any of this help?"

"I believe it does. There is always a pattern to be found. It will simply require time."

Time was one thing they had in short supply, but there was nothing for it. Thrawn stared at the holo display for hours, switching back and forth between the map and various moments from the combat footage. Occasionally, he asked a question, usually about some detail of engineering or lightsaber combat. Other times, he asked about some of the systems along the Corellian Run. Naruto answered as best he could, and whenever he admitted ignorance, Thrawn just nodded and moved on. The whole time, his laser focus never wavered. Hours passed. Eventually, Mace left to contact Obi-Wan and coordinate… something. Naruto wasn't sure. He was too engrossed in what Thrawn was doing. He barely even noticed when, two hours later, his master returned. In the end, it took over four hours, but Thrawn eventually stepped back from the holodisplay and blinked the strain out of his eyes.

"You have something?" Mace asked. It didn't show in his voice, but Naruto could sense traces of impatience edging his thoughts. There were more than just traces in his own thoughts, and he leaned forward in anticipation. There was a lot riding on Thrawn and his supposed abilities. When the blue-skinned alien grimaced, Naruto's heart sank.

"I fear I can only narrow it down to nine potential targets, any of which might be struck in the next standard week." He tapped a few buttons and eight green dots lit up on the map. "There was not enough data to make a more exact prediction."

Naruto gaped at him. "There are hundreds of Republic targets between us and the last strike, and you narrowed it down to nine? And you think that's not good enough?"

Thrawn pursed his lips. "Precision is the mark of competence. I dislike giving such vague estimates."

"This is still a remarkable achievement," Mace said. Naruto nodded eagerly.

"Yeah. How do you know he'll go after one of these?"

Thrawn hesitated a moment before answering. "It is… difficult to explain fully. What is obvious to me is often obscure for others, and vice versa." He switched back to the combat footage. "See here how Grievous leaps into the heart of a clone formation? He shows no concern for his retreat, relying instead on his skill and ferocity to carry him forward. Then there is his particular hatred of Jedi. It goes beyond any mere competitive feelings towards other skilled warriors. He sacrifices superior positioning in favor of killing Jedi more than once. Then there are the decorations on his prosthetics."

Mace frowned. "His armor is not decorated."

"Precisely. Grievous is a general, and a very competent one at that. His victories in the last month alone tell us this. Yet he does not think of himself as a general. It is a role he fills, but he still dresses and acts as a simple warrior. He wears no symbols of rank, no honors, no embellishments of any sort. Yet, as a cyborg, the organics under his command no doubt question his authority."

He caught Naruto's questioning look and smiled a little sadly. "I have found some prejudices are universal among civilizations. Overall, this is the picture of a being who values focused violence. He understands tactics, yet will sacrifice an advantage to entertain a personal vendetta. He commands as a general, yet fights on the front lines without need. Even when no Jedi are present, he makes a point of assaulting at least one clone unit in every confrontation. He is not merely conquering territory. He is trying to spread fear."

He switched back from the combat footage to the map. All the potential targets glowed blue. "I first eliminated any potential targets without either a Jedi or a high-ranking officer present. With so many options, it is unlikely Grievous would sacrifice a chance to eliminate Republic military leadership. From there, I simply factored in what I deduced of his nature. He favors a violent entrance with the option of striking out in multiple directions."

Over a third of the blue dots vanished. Those that remained were within a short hyperspace jump of at least three more potential targets.

"Given that the details of this weapon have remained unknown for so long, it seems reasonable to assume maintaining secrecy is important to our enemy. I therefore discounted any targets where ships had a greater than ten percent chance of escaping a sudden assault."

More dots vanished.

"This is where things grow difficult to explain. I eliminated any targets I felt Grievous would find unappealing."

"Unappealing?" Mace looked skeptical. Thrawn just nodded, his confidence as absolute as ever.

"Indeed. The remaining targets all present viable tactical options. However, like all people, Grievous is not a perfectly rational being. He has preferences and biases that inform his decisions. I do not believe I could adequately explain how I drew my conclusions on what would appeal to him, but I am very certain. The next attack will be at one of these nine locations."

All the blue dots vanished, leaving only nine green points of light. Naruto studied them, and something tickled the back of his mind. He couldn't tell if it was the Force or just regular intuition, but he listened all the same. There was a pattern there, just out of sight. He poked at it in his head until it came together.

"I think I see it," he said slowly, teasing the fuzzy notion into a proper idea. "Maybe."

Mace motioned for him to go on, and even Thrawn was paying attention. He pointed at the dots, one by one.

"A medical station, two supply depots, two listening posts, an ordnance depot, and three forward observation and scouting fleets. Grievous isn't just ferocious, he's cruel. He's going after targets that can't fight back properly. He wants to feel powerful, but he can't because he has to keep his new toy a secret. It's not just about spreading terror, it's about spreading terror of him. In the combat recordings, he hesitated for a second before pressing the attack on the clones. He wanted to see them run, even if they're just regrouping."

Thrawn nodded. "Cruelty. Yes, that is a factor I had not considered. Thank you, commander. If we account for that, I believe we can eliminate the scouting fleets from our list of likely targets. Compared to the other options, they are too well armed for his desires."

"Six targets," Mace mused. "And you said a week?"

"If he maintains his previous timetable, four days to a week at the most," Thrawn said. "It could be tomorrow, but certainly not longer than a week. I see no reason he would wait. Even without a survivor's report, he must know the Republic suspects a secret weapon. Delaying serves us more than him."

"We will have to move fast to redeploy our forces if we want to catch Grievous before he slips back into Separatist territory," Mace mused, but Thrawn looked doubtful.

"I do not believe that would be wise," he said. "The better course would be to allow this attack to go as scheduled."

That certainly got both their attention. Naruto felt indignation rise in his gut, but Mace spoke first.

"Explain," he said curtly. If Thrawn found his tone intimidating, he did not show it.

"At present, we know nothing of this weapon. Not its size, not its design, not even if it is one ship or many. Nor even if it is a ship at all. All we know is its track record of destroying Republic fleets without leaving any survivors. Even when you factor in the element of surprise, that still indicates vast destructive and defensive capabilities." He pulled up a holo of the blockade fleet they were leading. "Even with just six potential targets, there is no way to know if you can send enough ships to overcome this weapon. Even if they do, your forces would be weakened, and vulnerable to further attack. Without more intelligence on this weapon, it is illogical to force a confrontation without dire need."

"And saving lives isn't a dire need?" Naruto bit out.

Thrawn just looked at him levelly. "It is distasteful, but given that we have no sure means of stopping this weapon, whichever target Grievous attacks is already as good as destroyed. Given that reality, is it not better to extract whatever value you can from an inevitable loss? Better to sacrifice one target out of six than lose everything."

The words were cool, calm, and logical. There wasn't a hint of cowardice or malice in them, nor in Thrawn himself. His proposal was completely reasonable. In another life, Naruto might have been listening to a similar plan from Kakashi, or maybe Shikamaru. Detestable as the idea was, he couldn't see any flaw. That, perhaps more than the idea itself, grated against his soul. His fists wanted to clench and his jaw ached from the effort of not grinding his teeth, but he was acutely aware of the bridge crew just a few meters away. This was not the place to blow up at an ally. Still, he opened his mouth for a cutting, if quiet, rebuke of this newcomer. Captain Mith'raw'nuruodo would learn how to treat comrades.

"I don't-"

"Naruto." That was it. Just his name. Mace didn't even raise his voice. He didn't have to. His name cut through Naruto's tirade like a knife through silk and left the ends flapping loose in the air. Naruto bit his tongue and gave his master a hard look, just barely avoiding a glare. Mace stared back. His was better.

"I understand your objections. I share them. But my instincts tell me this is the right path. Be patient. Allow events to unfold and trust in the Force. There will be another way. You must allow it to present itself."

And that was that. Just as he couldn't shout at Thrawn in front of the crew, he couldn't disobey his master in front of Thrawn. No matter how much it soured his stomach. He nodded once, jerkily, and gestured at the map with a hand that would rather have smashed the table to pieces. His voice came out rough, but not sullen. At least, not too sullen.

"Fine. But I don't think it's six targets. He's going after the medical station. I'm sure of it."

Thrawn looked at the map for a moment and shook his head. "I do not believe we can say that for certain. The medical station has a defense force, true, but both the supply depots and the listening posts would make for better targets."

"No. It'll be the medical station. I can feel it." Naruto didn't bother looking at the Chiss.

Mace glanced at him sharply, a question in his eyes. He nodded, and the man nodded back. Thrawn looked between, obviously confused and just as obviously curious.

"Forgive me, but is this part of being a Jedi? I am unfamiliar with the tenets of your religion."

Naruto swallowed a snort. "It's not really a religion. I can feel the Force, and through it I can get glimpses. Hints, I guess. Right now, the Force is telling me Grievous will target the medical station."

"And this has been tested? Proven?"

"Only for the last 25,000 years."

Thrawn still looked unconvinced, but Mace nodded and studied the map for a solid minute. When he finally spoke, it was with the tone of command he used to give important orders.

"Very well. I will warn the commands of the various targets to expect an attack, but Thrawn is right. We cannot spare any significant force from Denon. Naruto, I want you to put together a scouting mission. I can spare you a light cruiser, but nothing else. Your job is to find this weapon, gather as much intelligence as you can, and report back. Do not engage without authorization or unless engaged first. And be as quick as you can. Whichever target Grievous strikes, we can be sure Denon will be next on his list. He has to get past us if he wants to attack Corellia." His intense gaze turned to Thrawn, who met it without even a twitch. "You are going with him, captain. Find me a way to destroy this weapon."

Naruto felt as if he had whiplash. Just a few hours ago, they'd been fumbling in the dark for the Separatists' secret weapon. Now, a complete stranger from the depths of the Unknown Regions had supposedly deduced its next target with nothing but a map and less than two minutes of blurry holofootage, and his master wanted him to find the damn thing and figure out how to make it go boom. At the same time, he had to somehow find a way to save the men on the medical station without alerting or engaging Grievous. The Force was a whirlpool around him. Warnings and whispers and possible outcomes slid by too fast to catch. Events were moving, and he was caught up in the tide. It was like flare surfing without engines or shields. Terrifying, but the adrenaline junkie in him whooped in excitement. He turned to face Thrawn and gave him an eye-smile that was almost entirely genuine.

"Looks like we'll be working together some more. We'll have to get you kitted out."

Thrawn inclined his head, for all the world as if Naruto hadn't been about to rip his hide off a few minutes ago. "I look forward to it."

Naruto craned his head around to see the bridge. Ponds was right where he usually was, hovering between the sensor and the comm station, ready for anything.

"Hey, Ponds!" He yelled. The clone spun and snapped off a salute. "I'm gonna go hunt down a secret Separatist superweapon. Want to come?"

"I'll get the boys ready, sir."

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Thrawn studied the bridge of the Arquitens-class light cruiser with a practiced eye. Republic ship design was foreign to him, and many of the systems were more advanced than anything in the Chaos, but the signs of a well run bridge were universal. He'd been skeptical of the idea of clone soldiers, but so far he'd have ranked them right up with the best Chiss crews he'd served with. As for the company of Galactic Marines Uzumaki had brought along, he thought they looked dangerously competent. If things went wrong and it came to fighting, this Hurricane company would do well, he expected.

Of course, not everything was familiar. The identical faces were still disconcerting at times, but there were just enough variations in hair style, beards, tattoos, and scars to let him identify who he was speaking to. When he spoke to anyone, that was. His Basic was still awkward, and only a few of the clone officers had any knowledge of Meese Caulf or Sybisti. It made communication difficult when the Jedi commander wasn't around. His ability to translate with this Force was as fascinating as it was useful.

'Still, it would be best to accelerate my linguistic studies,' he reminded himself. 'Relying on Uzumaki is too great a liability for the long term.'

His eyes wandered to the subject of his musings. The Jedi Padawan was… young. Very young. Shockingly young, and Thrawn did not consider himself easily shocked. From what he'd studied, humans aged much the same as Chiss, which made Uzumaki the same age as an Academy student. Perhaps a cadet, at most. And yet he was second in command of a unit larger than the entire Expansionary Defense Fleet, a trusted leader and a supposedly an experienced warrior. It was difficult to credit, yet nothing he had seen had contradicted that. It was an enigma, and one he refused to leave unsolved.

Unfortunately, he was not sure how open the boy would be to questions. His suggestion not to disperse the Republic forces from Denon without a clear plan to counter the weapon had been logical, but callous. Ugly, even, however practical. Uzumaki had not taken it well. Indeed, were it not for the bridge officers behind them, he thought the boy might have attacked him. As it was, only a stern rebuke from General Windu had saved him a tongue lashing at the very least. Even then, the older man had made his disdain for the idea clear. These Jedi obviously placed a higher premium on the lives of their soldiers than most. An admirable quality, and one he shared, but war was unforgiving towards such sentiments. Still, he tucked the conclusion away for future consideration. If he was to win Republic support for the Ascendancy, it would not do to alienate the Jedi.

The deck vibrated under his boots as the hyperdrive spooled up. For a frozen instant, he felt space and time distort as they rode the edge between realspace and hyperspace. Then the rush of pseudomotion passed, and the ship punched its way out of normal reality.

"Jump is stable," a bridge officer reported. He spoke Basic, but whatever Force technique Uzumaki used let the meaning of his words come across clearly. "Arrival at Rhommamool in four hours."

Thrawn knew his face was unreadable, but he wanted to purse his lips. Rhommamool. The location of the medical station Uzumaki was so sure Grievous would attack. It was possible. Perhaps even likely. But certain? He disliked relying on knowledge from something as mystical as the Force. There was more to the Jedi's religion than superstition, but just how far that went was still an unknown. If Uzumaki was wrong, or exaggerating whatever he had felt, it could cost the Republic vital time and resources. That, in turn, would only delay and diminish any assistance the Republic could lend the Ascendancy, and that he could not allow.

As if he could hear his thoughts, Uzumaki turned to look at him. With that mask covering the lower half of his face, it was hard to guess what he was feeling, but Thrawn thought he saw amusement in his eyes. At least it was not that piercing anger from before.

"Hey, can you fight, captain?" The blonde human asked. Not what Thrawn had thought he would say, but he answered honestly.

"I am certified in both armed and unarmed combat. Even among officers, personal combat ability was a requirement of service in the Expansionary Defense Fleet."

The young commander nodded, as if he'd been expecting the answer. Perhaps he had. A warrior's grace was an easy enough thing to spot, and Thrawn knew he moved like the trained fighter he was. Uzumaki had already proven himself surprisingly insightful for one so young. This was hardly surprising on top of what he'd already seen.

"Would you care for a spar?"

Once again, Thrawn found himself off balance. Uzumaki had a knack for that, it seemed. After a moment's hesitation, though, he decided. "I would be honored," he said with a gracious nod. "The combat prowess of the Jedi is the stuff of legends in the Chaos."

Uzumaki scrunched up his eyes in what looked like a smile. "Legends, huh? Well, looks like I'll have to put on a show. I wouldn't want to disappoint you."

They excused themselves from the bridge and made their way to the ship's gym. Among the various pieces of exercise equipment was a cleared, roped off space with thin pads on the floor. It wasn't overly large, maybe five meters by five, but it would suffice for two opponents to have an energetic spar. Thrawn shed his uniform jacket, leaving himself in the gray trousers and a white undershirt. Fortunately, despite their formal appearance, the Republic naval grays were actually quite rugged. Uzumaki removed his outer robe and armor, but left his tunic and tabard.

"Shall we use weapons or forbear?" Thrawn asked. He was eager to see these lightsabers the Jedi were known for in action, but not necessarily in action against him.

"I thought we'd go without for now. It's been a while since I sparred empty handed. Don't worry. I won't use the Force." Definite amusement sparkled in his eyes this time. "It wouldn't be very interesting if I did."

They moved to the mats and bowed to one another. Thrawn set himself, but no sooner had he done so than he had to dodge a kick that would have knocked him head over heels. He just barely ducked past it, but Uzumaki's fist snapped out and caught him in the ribs. He exhaled sharply to absorb the blow, but it still sent him staggering to one side.

'He's fast. And strong. That punch could have shattered my ribcage if he had not pulled it.'

He ducked by another set of lightning fast kicks, and this time it was his punch that landed. Uzumaki's reactions were as fast as his attacks, though. Thrawn just barely felt his knuckles brush the boy's mask before Naruto spun away. A moment later, a bar of solid steel scythed his legs out from under him. The ground slapped him in the back and drove the air from his lungs. It took a moment to force his diaphragm to resume its duties. To his surprise, Uzumaki did not press the attack. The masked boy stood and looked at him appraisingly before he nodded in what Thrawn thought might have been approval.

"You're good. Fast. And you don't make the same mistake twice."

Thrawn glanced down at his own prone form. "There is some evidence to suggest that is not true."

Uzumaki laughed and stretched out a hand to pull him up. "Not many people can dodge even one of my attacks. Even fewer can land a hit on me."

"Do you often talk so much while sparring?" Thrawn asked as he pulled himself up. Uzumaki gave him another of those eye-smiles.

"Sure. Fighting someone is a great way to get to know them."

Thrawn didn't have time to fully digest that before Uzumaki launched back into their spar. His attacks were still just as fast as before, but Thrawn was beginning to spot a pattern. He opened with overwhelming speed and used his first few strikes as a distraction to set his opponent's guard where he wanted it. When he had an opening, he attacked his opponent's balance. Which meant his next attack would be… there!

Uzumaki slipped past his extended arms and grabbed him for a hip throw. If he hadn't spotted the pattern, Thrawn had no doubt he would have been flat on his back again. This time, though, he let his weight drop, countering the throw and pulling Uzumaki off balance himself. He drove his fist once, twice, three times into the boy's kidney before they separated again.

"Nice!" Uzumaki said, far too excited for someone who had just taken three blows to a vital organ. "See. I told you we would get to know each other."

Thrawn raised an eyebrow. "And what have you learned about me, may I ask?"

Like a candle in a blizzard, the playful light in Uzumaki's eyes vanished. He looked deadly serious now, and Thrawn thought he may just have stepped off a cliff without checking if the bridge was still there. The boy rushed him again, but this time the spar was just background noise to their conversation.

"You don't trust me," Uzumaki said. "Not entirely. I suppose that's fair, though. We just met. I'll show you that you can trust me, though. We're comrades now, you know?"

"Comrades? I was under the impression you were angry at me for my suggestion back on the Thunderhead."

"I mean, I was, at first," Uzumaki said with a shrug. "But then I realized why you said it."

Thrawn felt the first prickings of nervousness. There was something… knowing about those blue eyes. Something far more perceptive than anyone, child or not, had a right to be. He continued to trade blows and listened with increasing shock as Uzumaki kept talking.

"You didn't just come to the Republic for new technology. No way. If all you wanted were shields, you could have just bought them or kidnapped someone who knew how to build them. There's plenty of people like that in the Outer Rim no one would ever miss. With the war, you probably could have even captured one of our ships. Hell, if you're as smart as I think you are, we probably never would have known it wasn't the Separatists."

Thrawn kept his face carefully blank as he blocked an uppercut to his jaw and responded with an elbow strike. That was disturbingly close to a plan the Syndicure had discussed before his own exile had come up for debate. It would have violated the Chiss prohibition against preemptive strikes, but the lure of energy shielding had proven potent indeed. Syndics had found themselves stripped of rank and family for even whispering of such plans in the past. It was a bitter tasting irony that the Syndicure had exiled him for the very crime they had discussed committing.

"You said the Chiss Ascendancy faces threats to your territory, but I think it's more than that," Uzumaki continued. "You need the Republic to win this war because you need our help. Something or someone is a threat to your people. Your very existence. A serious threat. They want to destroy you, and you think they're capable of it. That's why you were willing to suggest we sacrifice our people. It disgusted you almost as much as it did me, but you were still serious. You're desperate."

They jumped back from each other, sweating a bit and panting, but not seriously winded. Thrawn eyed the young Jedi for a long time as he mulled over what to say. Per his orders, he was supposed to lie. The Republic was not supposed to know the seriousness of the Ascendancy's situation until he had more assurances from the Supreme Chancellor. Despite that, he could not fight the urge to tell this boy the truth. There was something inviting about him. Perhaps it was a front, but he didn't think so.

"They are called the Grysk," he said softly. "The enemy you spoke of. We know almost nothing about them, but so far they have attacked the Ascendancy three times. Each time they acted through proxies, yet each attack nearly destroyed us."

He felt his nostrils flare as he recalled that awful moment when the truth had dawned on him that a single enemy was behind both the Nikardun and the Agbui. Then came the Kilji, confirming his suspicions. Memories of those battles played in his head again.

"I defeated their general," he said. "They sent only one, with a single warship. The Ascendancy is the mightiest civilization in the Chaos, yet the Grysk thought us worth only a single general. And they were nearly correct. For now, they seem content to act through proxies, perhaps saving their fleet for another enemy. Perhaps even the Republic. It is not clear. What is clear, though, is that the Ascendancy could not withstand a direct assault from the Grysk war machine."

"So you went looking for allies. And who better than the largest civilization in the galaxy?" Uzumaki nodded thoughtfully. "Okay. We'll help you."

Thrawn almost tripped over his own feet. Uzumaki landed a kick to his chest, but he barely noticed. "You… will help? Just like that? You know your government has not sanctioned such a thing yet?"

The boy laughed as if he'd just made a hilarious joke. "Of course. Like I said, we're comrades now. Those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum. I don't care what the Chancellor says. You're helping us, so I'll make sure we help you."

He said it so casually, as if it were a forgone conclusion rather than a weighty declaration of alliance with someone he'd barely met. It was only when a kick tapped the side of his head that Thrawn realized he'd been staring for almost a minute.

"Why?" The question slipped out before he could stop it.

"Because you asked." It was such a simple reason, yet it held libraries of information about the young man in front of him. Once more, he found himself pondering.

"Surely you will want something in return." Individuals could often act altruistically, but groups rarely did. It was not a long-term survival strategy for any organized collective. Uzumaki eyed him for a moment, head tilted as if to examine him from a different angle. Thrawn once more had the uncomfortable impression this boy was seeing far more of him than he was in return.

"Alright," he said. "How about a question?"

"A… question?" Thrawn wasn't sure where Uzumaki was going with this, but he was getting weary of feeling off balance in their conversation.

"Yep. You answer a question for me, and I'll help your people."

And there was that feeling of the ground shifting under his feet again. "I see. And what question would you ask me?"

"Simple," Uzumaki said with another of those eye-smiles. "Why did you have a Force-sensitive child aboard your ship?"

Thrawn's blood turned to ice. His breath froze in his lungs. Of all the questions the young Jedi could have asked, he had somehow stumbled onto literally the worst one. Everything about the sky-walkers, from the mere fact of their existence to the details of their training and abilities, was an absolute secret. Even he didn't know much beyond what he'd needed for his duties. Protocols on what to do in situations like this were clear, and a dozen scenarios ran through his head in an instant. He discarded them all. Killing Uzumaki was hardly an option, even if he could have managed it. Not only was the young man his ally, but if he had sensed Che'ri, then his Master doubtless had as well. No, there was no chance of eliminating the breach. Which left… what? Lying? Could he lie to this boy? Should he?

"I'm guessing I wasn't supposed to ask about that?" Uzumaki's voice jarred him from his thoughts. The young Jedi looked worried.

"It is… not a topic we discuss," Thrawn said carefully. Uzumaki snorted.

"I'll say. You actually considered killing me for a moment." He sighed. "Ah, well. I didn't mean to upset you. Look, just forget it. I won't refuse to help your people or anything. We'll just say you owe me one and leave it at that, okay?"

Thrawn studied the young man in front of him as carefully as he'd studied anyone before, friend or foe.

"…There is more to you than meets the eye," he said finally. The blonde chuckled and scratched the back of his head.

"You just need to look underneath the underneath," he said, and then his eyes lit up. "Ooh! That gives me an idea. Meet me in the cargo bay."

He made a sign with one hand and vanished with a faint whoosh. Thrawn stared at the spot where he had been, astonished. He'd never seen any living thing move so fast. Then something occurred to him that had him pursing his lips.

'How am I supposed to know where the cargo bay is?'

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Three days later

Naruto looked out the viewport at the onyx ocean of space. Pinpricks of light glittered across the void as distant stars swam through the galaxy. Nearer and larger specks of light drifted by the viewport as well. Some were near enough to make out the craggy outline of shattered rock. A few were large enough to discern a curved surface that told of the small moon they once had been. Far to the left, but still large enough to dominate the area, hung the searing blue orb of the local star. Even two hundred million kilometers away, it still cast enough light to force his eyes away every time they strayed too close.

Larger in his view were the twin planets of Rhommamool and Osarian, locked in an eternal dance around each other even as they spun together around their shared sun. Impoverished Rhommamool and resplendent Osarian. Theirs was a long and often bloody history; one fit for a thousand holodramas. No doubt entire university courses existed on the subject. Even from here, he could sense the life on the two planets, and the animosity between them, like two rutting kybucks fighting over a patch of forest. At any other time, he might have spent hours teasing out all the intricacies of the conflict. Now, though, it occupied no more of his attention than a buzzing fly.

No, the akul's share of his attention went to the Haven-class medical station spinning like a top between the two planets. A single Venator glided around it in lazy circles; a sand panther guarding its kit. He could barely make them out at this distance, even with chakra enhancing his vision. They were two tiny specks, sparks in the void, but he knew they were there.

"What is the status of the station?" Thrawn's smooth tones drifted from behind him. He didn't turn, but he knew the sensor officer would be checking his screen.

"Approximately 73,000 life signs," the man replied after a second. Naruto thought his name was Stock. "Most immobile. Only a few hundred movers."

"And the cruiser?"

"Still maintaining its patrol path, sir."

"Very good." Thrawn came up beside him. "Do you sense anything?"

The dry, static feel of skepticism still clung to him as he asked, but there was genuine interest, too. He wasn't convinced of Jedi abilities yet, but he also wasn't willing to completely discard them. That whirring machine of a mind refused to discard any potential data.

"Soon," Naruto said. "Today. Maybe in the next hour."

He would have sworn in front of the Council he kept the nerves boiling his stomach out of his voice, but Thrawn still gave him a significant look.

"If your powers are as reliable as you say, this plan has a very good chance of succeeding. Certainly, it is the best we could do with our present resources."

He grimaced beneath his mask. "I know. That doesn't make it any-"

He cut off abruptly as the Force flared like fireworks. His eyes jumped to a seemingly random spot in space. It looked no different from any other patch of star-dappled shadow, but he saw with more than just eyes.

"We've got company," he called. A few seconds later, the sensor station came alive with beeps and trills and flashing lights.

"Multiple ships exiting hyperspace," the officer confirmed. "They're Separatists."

Multiple was right. Even as he spoke, a dozen or more faint flashes of light appeared right where the Force had told him they would. Not just a single weapon, then. A fleet. With his enhanced vision, he could make them out clearly, and his jaw almost dropped. Even without scans, it was clear as Umbaran glass which ship was the secret weapon. There were Munificent-class frigates, a few Diamond-class cruisers, some Fantails, a destroyer, several corvettes, and one ship he'd never seen before. Near the center of the fleet was the biggest ship he'd ever seen. It looked vaguely similar to a Separatist dreadnought, but it was more than twice the size of even the largest of those, and more heavily built at that. An enormous dish of some sort broke up the lines of its flank, but aside from that, it had an eerily organic look to it. His imagination conjured images of some ancient god-monster crept back from the depths of the void, but he banished the maudlin thoughts to the back of his mind.

"Start getting scans on the big one," he ordered. "That's the weapon. I want to know every rivet on that thing's hull."

He turned to the weapons station. "Have they detected us?"

"No, sir. The captain was right. The radiation from the shattered moon is hiding our presence."

Naruto nodded, but said nothing. That radiation would interfere with their own scanners, too. If they missed this opportunity, he doubted they would get another one. "Stock, if you can't get clear scans, move us away from the moon. I don't want to do this twice."

The sensor officer acknowledged his order, but never took his eyes off his screen. He knew as well as anyone not to miss a single detail of whatever was about to happen.

They didn't have long to wait. The moment the Separatists came out of hyperspace, the Venator guarding the medical station moved to intercept them. It looked ridiculous, a lone Star Destroyer squaring off against such a large force, but it still dutifully put itself between the station and danger. Flickers of blue light snapped across the intervening space as it opened fire. Obviously, the crew had also identified the big ship as the primary threat, and most of the fire went straight towards the center of the fleet.

'Come on, come on,' he urged mentally. 'Take the bait, you damn cyborg. I laid it out for you. Just take it.'

In the corner of his mind, Naruto noticed their own ship shudder faintly as it started to move. It seemed he'd been right about the radiation proving a double-edged sword. Hopefully, the Separatists would be too focused on their goal to notice them.

"This can't be it," he muttered. "There's got to be more to this weapon."

There was. The Venator hadn't been firing for more than a few seconds before he spotted something strange. It looked like lightning crackling in a disc on the big ship. It was like nothing he'd ever seen before.

"I-I'm picking up an ion weapon," Stock said. His voice was shaky. "It's… huge. Bigger than I've ever heard of."

"That's an ion cannon?" Naruto asked, shock momentarily driving thoughts of composure from his mind. That was ten times the size of any ion cannon ever designed. Twenty times!

The disc of lightning suddenly shot forward, expanding in moments until it was several kilometers across. Then dozens. Then hundreds. In less than a second, it grew to a sizzling wave of energy fit to swallow whole fleets. A heartbeat later, that wave broke over the Venator and then the station behind it.

"I'm reading a total loss of power aboard both the station and the cruiser," Stock said. "Life signs are still strong, though. The decoys survived. That ion pulse must not have affected separate systems inside the ship."

Thrawn looked at him and nodded approvingly. "Your plan worked. Most impressive."

Naruto smiled. "I told you. There's always another way. Besides, you get some credit too. You're the one who inspired me."

"Perhaps." Thrawn looked self-deprecating. "I would not have thought to use droids, though."

Naruto chuckled, proud of himself despite all Master Windu's lectures on humility. Despite what their sensors, and obviously the Separatists', said, there were no living clones in either the medical station or the Venator. Instead, there were thousands upon thousands of mouse droids. The look on the station commander's face when he'd shown up with 100 Kage Bunshin behind him and demanded every mouse droid in the system had been worth the trouble of modifying them all on its own. The station crew and all the patients had evacuated days ago, leaving just one cruiser with a skeleton crew of yet more Kage Bunshin and thousands of mouse droids all emitting sensor shadows. As he watched the enormous flagship and several of the frigates open fire on the crippled hulls, blowing them to scrap, he couldn't help another chuckle. Oh, how he wished he could see Grievous now, doubtless so proud of all the poor, innocent mouse droids he'd just vaporized.

"Keep scanning," he ordered. "Ship positions, maneuvers, armaments, everything. We'll need every scrap of data we can get if we want to take Grievous down later."

Already he could feel ideas bubbling up in his brain like a pot of ramen set to boil. Thrawn's emotions had sharpened as well; a hawk with its eyes on a tasty rat. Silently, he vowed he would see that monstrous weapon burn before it cost the Republic another ship, another Jedi, another clone. Grievous had taken his last-

Breeeet breeeet! Breeeet breeeet! Breeeet breeeet!

An alarm sank a hook into his thoughts and yanked them back to the present. As it sounded, his danger senses prickled and his heart dropped into his stomach. He didn't need Stock's words to know what had just happened.

"They've detected us!"

'I let us get too far from the moon. Damnit!'

There was no use berating himself now, though. Better to focus on surviving so Mace could do it for him later. Thrawn, calm as ever, was already giving orders.

"Start calculations for a hyperspace jump. Until then, put the moon between us and the Separatists."

Naruto turned to the comm station. "Can we transmit the data we have to Mace?"

The clone at the station shook his head. "Long range transmissions are jammed, sir."

"Sir, that ion weapon is charging again."

Sure enough, a glance showed him the disk of crackling lightning, this time pointed right at them. For such a large ship, it maneuvered with shocking speed. The other ships scattered out of the line of fire, and the crippling ray launched.

He knew before it had fired that they couldn't hope to dodge it. "All hands, brace for impact!"

In the space between two heartbeats, the ion ray went from the size of his outstretched fist to become all he could see. The glittering black ocean of space vanished in favor of searing blue and yellow arcs of ionizing energy. Their ship was just a twig before a tsunami, and there was nothing to do but watch as the wave hit them.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Another cliffhanger. I'll brace myself for the usual imprecations against my writing skills, morality, and general worthiness for life. In my defense, it's just the nature of serialized stories like fanfiction. When chapters come out piecemeal, what otherwise would read like a natural break point instead becomes a cliffhanger. Once I've finished this story, an event I hope will come before the heat death of the universe, and you can read it all in one go, I promise there won't seem to be nearly as many cliffhangers.

Please let me know how I did with Thrawn's portrayal here. I'm obviously not Timothy Zahn, but I did my best to maintain consistency with how he had Thrawn speak and act. Remember, for those of you who only know him from Rebels and Ahsoka, this Thrawn is more than two decades younger than that version, and you're seeing him from the perspective of allies rather than enemies.

As always, please leave your comments, questions, critiques, praises, rants, and most especially ravings in a review. I do my best to answer every question I get sent, though if you leave a guest review, I can't message you back. Also, remember to enable email notifications and PMs if you haven't yet. See you next time.