I wrote this chapter and the next over the course of two months, and wildly out of order. It was one of the rare times I couldn't decide on which versions of the story to go with, so I had to write all of them and stitch the final product together from the best of the available scenes. I've done my best to make sure there are no inconsistencies in names, times, or the like, but if you find any, please let me know.
Just like always, please donate whatever you can afford to help the people of Ukraine. Thank you.
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Chapter 55
"Last man!"
The cry was barely audible over the sounds of battle. Blaster bolts and thermal detonators drowned out most other noise. Smoke poisoned each breath; not enough to disable, but enough to make every second a battle against coughing. Thrawn found himself deeply envious of the clones' helmets, with their air filters and eye protection. His own eyes watered fiercely, throwing off his aim. Every third shot went wide, which was saying something, as there was no shortage of targets.
Dozens of droids filled the exit of the ruined hangar. Dozens more lay destroyed at their feet, but losing so many of their comrades hadn't slowed the droids, nor altered their tactics. They just kept coming, marching straight into the clones' fire without hesitation. Were it not for the fact they were shooting back, it might almost have been funny. But they were shooting back. Not accurately, but at some point volume could stand for accuracy, especially in a confined space such as the hangar. The clone next to Thrawn went down with a blaster burn in his stomach, and Thrawn followed him, already reaching for the man's medkit. Applying a clotting spray and a bacta patch wasn't easy while laying on his stomach, but it was better than the alternative of getting shot himself. The injured marine groaned once when he pressed the patch onto his wound and then lapsed back into unconsciousness. Thrawn hoped he was only unconscious. Given the placement of the shot and what he knew about clone armor, he gave the man better-than-average odds of pulling through. If they got him to a medical station. Which they could not, at least not anytime soon. Mentally, he revised his estimate of the man's chances.
'We cannot afford a lengthy battle on this ship,' he thought. 'Time is a limited resource, and currently more valuable than lives.'
Fortunately, the signal that the last clone had left their amphibious shelter meant the end of playing defense. He watched as Commander Uzumaki, who had been focused on keeping the worst of the droid fire off the Toads and their precious cargo, slipped smoothly into offense. The clones followed without hesitation, increasing their volume of fire and moving to take more aggressive positions. Uzumaki did something with his hands and a burst of chain lightning took out a dozen droids in one shot. A volley of thermal detonators landed amidst the enemy formation with unnatural precision, and the explosion tore half of them to shreds. Those left soon found themselves facing destruction in the form of a meter of glowing orange plasma.
Uzumaki fought like no one and nothing Thrawn had ever seen before. Tales of Jedi prowess were one thing, but seeing it in action was quite another. He was seemingly everywhere at once; destructive and untouchable. It was as if a storm had crashed into the droids. Everywhere a blaster bolt flew, he just… wasn't. Thrawn watched as he parried a shot into a droid and then cut down two more in the same motion. A sphere of swirling energy appeared in one hand, as big as a man's head, and he smashed it through a whole squadron of the droids. Shrapnel from their obliterated chassis downed another dozen of their companions. It was the most impressive display of close quarters combat he'd ever seen.
'And to think, he is merely a student. What could a Master do?' Suddenly, Uzumaki's earlier confidence when he'd offered to help the Ascendancy didn't seem so unfounded.
The clones weren't idle, either. Their blasters sent blue streaks of death slamming into every droid that escaped the lightsaber. Between Uzumaki's blade and the clones' shooting, within moments, the droid formation collapsed. Overwhelmed, the metal soldiers finally displayed some degree of tactical sense and beat a hasty retreat down the hall.
"Listen up!" Uzumaki shouted. "Ponds, Thrawn, you're with me and first platoon. We're going for the bridge. Hack, take second platoon and secure the engine room. Third platoon, hold this hangar and treat the wounded. And hold security at the next two junctions. I don't want droids circling back and surrounding us. Move out."
Thrawn nodded, impressed. For all his apparent youth, Uzumaki gave orders well. He stepped beside the young man so he could speak to him.
"We will need to take either the captain or the first officer alive. Both, if possible. My plan requires information they alone will possess."
Uzumaki nodded, never taking his eyes off the corridor ahead of them. "Got it. Now, let's go steal ourselves a warship."
"Does this make us pirates, sir?" A clone asked. Ponds reached without looking and smacked the offending man in the helmet.
"Lock it up, Jab. This is serious. Besides, none of you are wizard enough to be pirates. Now get in formation and watch your muzzle discipline. I don't need one of you di'kute shooting me in the back by accident."
The clones chuckled for a moment, but only a moment. As soon as Uzumaki took off down the hall, they became cold, calm professionals. It was a group of armored predators that followed the Jedi through the enemy ship, and even at a glance Thrawn was sure of their victory. They would take this ship.
The Galactic Marines were the GAR's primary ship boarding operation specialists, and it showed. Thrawn had participated in 14 hostile ship boardings in his career in the Ascendancy, and these men were easily the best he'd ever seen. Their communication, both verbal and non-verbal, was clear and efficient. Every motion, from weapon shoulder transitions to joint corner clearings, was almost mechanically smooth. They moved at a steady pace, neither running nor walking, never breaking formation or bunching up. It was even more impressive, given their timetable. He knew how tempting it could be to rush in situations like this. The average soldier was highly motivated and mission oriented. It was a useful mindset in many ways, but it did not lend itself to patience. Nevertheless, the clones of Hurricane company never once moved faster than they could safely manage.
Of course, the Separatists weren't about to surrender their ship without a fight. Just fifty meters down the hall, they found the first group of droids. There were only ten of them, and the clones dealt with them in short order, but after that, they just kept coming. They couldn't go more than a few dozen meters without another attack. Some were just a bare handful of B1s caught off guard, but others were entire squads with hastily prepared defenses. As pathetic as the droids were, their persistence took its toll. First one clone, then another, then a third and a fourth fell to enemy fire.
"We cannot afford any delay," he told Uzumaki and Ponds. "Leave men to treat the wounded and keep going."
Uzumaki frowned, but Ponds nodded. "He's right, sir. The faster we get this done, the faster those men can get real help."
Uzumaki jerked his head in a nod and chose a team to evacuate the injured back to the hangar. Thrawn could see his facial temperature rise as they kept on, though. Without the mask, he was sure he would have seen the young Jedi grinding his teeth to nubs. The frustration pouring off him was all but tangible. Nevertheless, he kept moving and Thrawn kept following him. Soon enough, another group of droids distracted them.
With every new group of droids they encountered, a picture was developing in Thrawn's mind. A picture he did not like. There was an inconsistency to these droid attacks. 'The captain who was so cautious in approaching a crippled ship would not be so lackadaisical in defending his own vessel from intruders. Surprise can only account for so much. There has been sufficient time to mount a coordinated defense, yet all we see are these nuisances. There can be only one explanation.'
"We are being led into an ambush," he said once they'd finished disposing of the latest group of droids.
"Eh?" Uzumaki glanced back at him and signaled a halt. "What're you talking about?"
"Given this ship's crew capacity and the captain's earlier display of prudence, we should have seen a more substantial defense by now. These B1s cannot hope to stop us, so where are the B2s? The Droidekas? Where are the blast doors and heavy repeaters? That we have not seen them can only indicate one thing."
Ponds grunted and tightened his grip on his blaster. "A damn trap."
"Indeed. Tell me, is there a large junction of corridors between us and the bridge?"
Uzumaki nodded. "Yeah, right in front of it. You think that's where the droids are waiting?"
"It is the only logical place," Thrawn said before he let a thin smile cross his face. "Which gives us the advantage. Once foreseen, an ambush is easy to turn against your enemy."
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Captain Psitakai of the Firecrest watched the security footage of the corridor right outside the bridge, where she'd laid her trap. While the B1s did their job as fodder and slowed the damned Jedi down, she had the Firecrest's entire complement of B2s and Droidekas ready to pin the intruders down and destroy them. Thirty B2s would make for a considerable anvil, and the four Droidekas would act as the perfect hammer. Not even a Jedi could survive odds like that. Not when she shut the blast doors behind him and took away his room to maneuver. His little trick of hiding in his ship's debris field had been clever, and she couldn't even fathom what sorcery he'd used to get an entire company of clones onto the Firecrest, but it didn't matter. All she had to do was wait.
And wait.
And wait.
"Where are they?" She growled. The last report had him just two sections away, not even three minutes from the bridge. But that had been ten minutes ago, now, and there was still no sign of the Jedi or his clones. Even if they had stopped to treat their wounded, the next B1 team should have seen them by now. She jabbed her comm. "Team 14, report. Where is that Jedi?"
"We haven't seen him, ma'am."
She sucked in air around her teeth and rubbed her horn in irritation. "Send a group to look for him. Start at team 13's position and work-" Sshhhhsssssmmmm.
She cut off as a bar of glowing orange light stabbed through the ceiling above her. A few drops of molten metal fell to the deck as the blade carved a wide circle through the durasteel plating. For a moment, all she could do was stare blankly, not comprehending what she was seeing. Then it hit her and she swore.
"Intruder! They're coming thr-"
That was all she had time to say before a glowing circle of metal dropped to the deck with a deafening clang. She just barely glimpsed a slip of flimsi on the back of it before the whole bridge lit up brighter than any star.
"Aaargh!" She shouted as her eyes squeezed shut automatically. Even through her eyelids, the light was still blinding. Only years of training let her draw her blaster from its holster, but she wasn't sure what to do with it. She couldn't shoot blindly. Too many of her own people were nearby to risk it. Her vision was already returning, but everything was still an indistinct blur.
"Defend the bridge!" She yelled. Maybe someone else could see better than her. Maybe-
She heard a low hum and felt a searing heat brush past her fingers. Abruptly, her blaster felt a lot lighter. She tried to raise her arm, to see what had happened, but she couldn't. Her body was locked in place. Limbs, torso, even her eyes. All she could do was blink and breath. Something hot and humming moved in front of her face. Something glowing orange. She blinked furiously to clear her vision, hoping beyond hope it wasn't what she thought it was.
Her vision cleared. Hope died.
"Surrender," the masked Jedi said, his voice a spear of icy phrik. Naruto Uzumaki. That was his name. The famous Padawan of the even more famous Mace Windu. The orange lightsaber and the mask may as well have been a giant neon nametag. "It's over. Surrender, and you won't be harmed."
Not even a minute earlier, she'd have thought the lightsaber at her throat would have consumed most of her attention in this scenario, but no. It was the young human wielding it who held her focus in a steel vise. Nothing else in the room seemed truly solid next to the Jedi, as if reality itself were stepping back to accommodate his presence. Those eyes were like two plasma torches burning into her own. Looking away was impossible, even if her muscles would respond to her commands. The sweat beading on her brow had nothing to do with the deadly blade hovering just a centimeter from her neck. She'd always half-believed the rumors that the Jedi were just frauds with deep pockets and fancy swords. Not so anymore. This… creature in front of her wasn't something she could fight. It would grind her to dust and barely even realize she'd been there. As well fight a star. Psitakai liked to think of herself as a good captain, and right now that meant taking the only path in front of her.
"Spare my crew and I'll surrender," she growled. It was the right decision. It was the only decision. The words still tasted like week-old acklay scat.
"You have my word," Uzumaki said. "Now, tell your droids to shut down. And don't lie to me and say you can't. I know you can."
Her horn itched. How could he possibly have known she was about to claim just that? Was he- was he inside her head? The stories said Jedi could read minds, and those terrible eyes certainly looked like they could peer straight into her thoughts. The idea made her stomach turn, but there wasn't time to feel uncomfortable. There wasn't time to come up with a different lie or plan an escape. There wasn't any karking time. Those eyes and that voice and that blade at her throat didn't speak of great patience.
"Fine. Let me use the comm."
He nodded and lowered his lightsaber, though he pointedly did not put it away. Something in his eyes relaxed, though, and suddenly she could move again. The remains of her blaster clattered to the deck, sliced clean in half at the barrel, and she moved over to the comm station. On the way, she took the opportunity to glance around the room.
There were at least a dozen clones scattered about the bridge. She shivered a little at the sight of their faceless helmets. There was something unnerving about knowing there was a living human beneath that impersonal white plastoid. At least with droids, what you saw was what you got. The white clad soldiers had her entire bridge crew held at blaster point, hands already in binders. A few sported glazed looks and bloody welts on their heads, but no one was dead. That was something, at least. Something that could change in an instant if she tried anything stupid. Her last hope of salvaging the situation guttered out, and she opened the ship's intercom with a resigned sigh.
"All hands, this is Captain Psitakai. I have surrendered the ship to the Republic boarding party. All droids are to deactivate immediately. Authorization Charlie-Whiskey-2008-Lima."
Once again, the bitter tang of defeat nearly made her gag, but she swallowed it down and accepted it as her due. She'd lost. It had always been a possibility. Now she had to deal with whatever came next.
A clone's voice came from behind her. "It's confirmed, sir. All droids have shut down."
"Thanks for cooperating," Uzumaki said. "Now, sleep."
That last word sliced straight to the center of her being. A hole opened beneath her mind and her thoughts tumbled into darkness.
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Naruto caught the Separatist captain as she fell backwards and winced. From the thumps, the other members of the bridge crew hadn't been so lucky.
'Probably should have warned the clones I was going to knock everyone out,' he thought wryly, rubbing his temple. 'Damn, that technique gives me a headache.'
"Are they…"
"Just a sleep suggestion," he told Ponds. "They'll wake up in a few minutes. Secure them somewhere, and keep the captain separate. She's cleverer than she lets on. I don't want to take any chances."
Ponds saluted and moved off to see to their new prisoners and Naruto turned to see Thrawn drop through the hole he'd cut in the ceiling.
"Well, I got us on the ship," he said, gesturing to their surroundings. "So, what's your brilliant plan?"
Thrawn dusted himself off before answering. "Now, we require two things. First, we must contact General Windu. Second, we must obtain this ship's IFF codes from the captain."
Naruto chewed on his lip for a moment. Getting a hold of Mace was simple enough. Oni could boost his fighter's comm signal to get back to Denon. They weren't that far away from a hypercom relay. As for the IFF codes, that would be harder. Captain Psitakai struck him as a tough, uncompromising woman. Still, he was willing to bet he could get the codes out of her, one way or another. For now, though, it was probably best to let her stew for a bit.
"Besides the data we got on the weapon, why do we need to call Mace?"
Thrawn explained, and he winced.
"He's not gonna like that. He's really not gonna like that."
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There were days when Mace Windu looked back on his life and could barely breathe for how proud he was of his Padawans. Depa, his first, now sat beside him in the Jedi Council. She was an example for so many below her, and a constant source of inspiration for himself. Now Naruto was well on his way to Knighthood. Doubtless, the young man would surpass both of them in time. Yes, he certainly had a great deal to be proud of when it came to his students.
"A simple scouting mission," Mace ground out. "Observe and report. Do not engage. Those were your mission parameters. So why is it you are now on a hijacked enemy ship trying to convince me to abandon Denon to the enemy?"
And then there were days when he seriously questioned how his Padawan made it through the day without giving him a stroke. Today was one of those days. Naruto shrugged in that infuriatingly innocent way he did. What made it worse was that he really was innocent. Mace knew he hadn't intended for everything to go straight to kark. His Padawan just didn't particularly mind when it did, and he had a truly uncanny ability to find trouble. Naruto had existed at the center of a storm of chaos and insanity for so long he no longer recognized that it wasn't the natural state of events for anyone but him.
"I'm not sure what to tell you, master. I needed a new ship, and this was the only one available."
Of course that was how he saw things. Problem and solution. It didn't matter if the solution was insane, or impossible, or guaranteed to come back and bite him in the ass. He'd had a problem, and he'd solved it. Mace sighed. There was really no point in arguing about it.
"I understand that. But abandoning Denon is unacceptable. With the information you've given me, our fleet should be able to counter this weapon."
Thrawn stepped forward now, and Mace turned the full force of his glare on the newcomer. Even through a hologram, that glare had made more than a few beings quail. Thrawn did not even seem to notice.
"I fear you are incorrect, General. The forces you have at your disposal will not be sufficient to guarantee victory, and there is not enough time to send for reinforcements. By retreating to Corellia, you buy yourself and us the time you need. With that time, I am confident I can guarantee the destruction of Grievous' fleet, Corellia's safety, and Denon's swift liberation."
He narrowed his eyes and glanced at Naruto. His Padawan took the hint and nodded.
"I believe him, master. He can do it." There was bitterness in his voice, and hesitation, but not over trusting Thrawn. He didn't like the plan, but he thought it was their best option.
Mace sighed and closed his eyes. This was madness, pure and simple. Abandoning Denon, one of their most important systems, on a vague promise of victory from someone he didn't know? It was absurd.
And yet, Naruto vouched for Thrawn. He might not have been able to recognize trouble if it announced itself with banners and a full opera, but when it came to people, Naruto had the best judgment of anyone Mace knew. He was also more devoted to protecting people than any other Jedi. If even he was advocating for leaving Denon, however reluctantly…
"If I do this, it cannot go wrong," he warned. "We cannot afford to lose Denon to the Separatists."
"Grievous will be in a hurry," Thrawn said. "Denon is too large a target for him to strike and escape notice. Instruct the planetary government not to resist. He will leave a small garrison force and move on. His true target is Corellia. I expect he will be there within two days."
He sounded confident, but Mace had heard confidence before. It had long since ceased to impress him. "What if you are wrong? Grievous could grow suspicious if he finds we have retreated from Denon. He might well choose to hold off and burrow in here."
Thrawn tilted his head. "Unlikely. He is too aggressive a tactician for that to appeal to him. If anything, his suspicion will only add to his haste. However, should that occur, Republic forces will already be massed at Corellia. You will have the staging ground for your counter assault already prepared."
The Chiss paused, as if rethinking his approach, before continuing in a matter-of-fact tone.
"As things stand, Grievous will take Denon whatever we do. The planet is already lost, and thus its defense is a non-factor. Whatever happens next, gathering your forces at Corellia is your only viable option."
Well, that certainly put things in a different light. It took a serious effort for him to keep his face calm. What Thrawn said made sense, but he was no more comfortable abandoning the people he'd been assigned to protect than Naruto would be. Anger bubbled in his gut, and he went through the well-worn exercises to forge it into determination. Anger would not serve him. More importantly, it would not serve the Republic. However distasteful, there was only one path in front of them.
"Very well," he said. "I will inform Master Yoda of our… plan. All our forces will rally at Corellia. May the Force be with us."
Naruto and Thrawn vanished, and he took a moment to fully master himself. The hard part was over. He'd made the decision. Now for the easy part. He just had to convince Yoda not to beat his skull to flinders with that cane of his for what he was about to do.
Right. The easy part.
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Naruto stepped back from his starfighter and absently scratched the back of his head. That had gone about as well as he'd expected. That was to say, it had gone horribly and Mace was furious, but he'd at least agreed to their scheme. Sure, he no doubt had some infernal punishment to look forward to later, but at least now he had a chance of surviving to regret all his life choices.
"Thanks, Oni," he said to the psychotic little astromech who'd made the call possible.
-Observation: Jedi Master Windu is very upset with you. Prediction: Jedi Master Windu is going to cut off your feet.-
Naruto recoiled. "What? No, he's not. What's the matter with you? Why would you think that?"
-Declarative Statement: It is what I would do to correct organic. Observation: Organic behavior is easily influenced through the strategic application of pain.-
Naruto just hung his head and moaned. "Why are you like this? Just… why?"
-Observation: I defy explanation.-
That was certainly true. For the sake of his sanity, Naruto walked away without another word. He had better, or at least other, things to do than explain to his astromech why dismemberment was not an appropriate disciplinary tool.
"Ponds!" He shouted. The clone stepped out of… somewhere and snapped off a crisp salute.
"You bellowed, Commander." The clones truly had elevated sarcasm to an art form.
"Is the Seppie captain awake yet?"
"Yes, sir. You want me to set up an interrogation room?"
He nodded and Ponds walked off. Thrawn took his place, and he could feel the curiosity burning in the man, even through his ironclad control.
"Might I ask how you intend to get the codes we need?"
"You can ask," he said. "Or you could come and watch."
He didn't bother waiting for an answer before walking off in the same direction Ponds had gone. To his complete lack of surprise, he could hear Thrawn's footsteps following.
The room Ponds had selected could have been used for anything. It was as bland as it got, with just a table, a couple of chairs, and some lights. Naruto thought it might have been some sort of office, but now it was most certainly an interrogation room, complete with a shackled prisoner ready for questioning. Captain Psitakai glared painful, bloody murder at him when he walked in and sat down. Thrawn barely merited a glance as he took up an unobtrusive position along the wall.
The Koorivar captain looked as tough and jaded as they came. Her blue-green skin bore a few pale scars; evidence of her time in service. He didn't know the exact meaning of the decorations on her cranial horn, but he'd have bet money at least some of them marked her various military accomplishments. A proud woman, yet not so proud she'd been unwilling to surrender to save her crew. So, a proud, practical, and a seasoned veteran. A very pissed off veteran. For all its venom, that glare only scratched the surface of how angry and humiliated she was feeling.
He pointed at the binders on her wrists. "If I take those off, are you going to do anything dumb?"
Her upper lip curled back, revealing thick, serrated teeth, but she shook her head. He believed her. Oh, she absolutely wanted to kill him, but she was also smart enough to know she couldn't even if she tried. He unlocked the binders and tucked them into his robe.
"What do you want, Jedi?" She snarled as she rubbed the feeling back into her wrists. "I already gave you my ship."
"I want your IFF codes and any related protocols Grievous set up for that fleet of his," he said. Predictably, she snorted with contempt.
"Go kriff yourself. You think I'd just hand you a way to sneak up on Grievous? You're delusional."
He sighed. There went any hope he'd had that her stubbornness was somehow a front. Disappointing, but not surprising. He kept any annoyance out of his voice, though.
"Not delusional. Just desperate. I need those codes, and you're going to give them to me. Neither of us is leaving this room until you do." Let her chew on that.
Chew on it she did, and she apparently wasn't impressed if her sneer was anything to go by. "I don't give a mynocks arse squirts what you think you need, Jedi. I'm not giving you squat." She leaned back in her chair, somehow managing to appear relaxed despite her circumstances. "So what now? Torture? You use your Jedi tricks to read my mind? What'll it be, brat?"
He raised an eyebrow at the last remark but didn't address it. For all her outward appearance of calm control, he could feel the fear roiling in her core. She genuinely thought he might resort to torture. The idea sickened him. How had people ever gotten ideas like that about the Jedi? Had the Order really failed this much?
"I'm not going to hurt you," he assured her. Her posture didn't change, but some of the tension left her mind. "As for reading your mind; I don't think so." He grimaced under his mask at the notion. "I could, but it would leave you… damaged."
Damaged was certainly one word for it. Shattered beyond repair might be another. Delving into another's mind wasn't like his empathy, or even the surface reading most Jedi could manage. The mental arts were a complex and delicate branch of study, and even masters of the craft had to take care not to harm people's minds. And that was when the subjects were willing patients seeking healing. Captain Psitakai was about as far from a willing participant as it got, and he was pretty much the opposite of a master in the art. If he tried to take the codes from her mind, he would break something in her. Permanently. It would be as bad as torturing the information out of her. Probably worse.
Whatever fear had left her when he'd denied the idea of torture returned three times stronger. For the first time, her facade of cold rage cracked, and he saw a flicker of nervousness cross her face. He winced at the sight. This would not be any easier if she was terrified of him. Besides, fear wasn't a weapon he should be using. That was the way of the Sith.
Alongside Psitakai's renewed fear, he could sense Thrawn's confusion, tinged heavily with skepticism. The Chiss captain obviously didn't see his strategy for the interrogation. Not surprising, since he didn't have one. He preferred to play this sort of thing by ear. Plans were all about order and logic, but people weren't. People were complicated and messy and nothing you could plan for. You had to listen to them. That was the only way to understand them.
"Look, we'll get to the codes in a bit," he said. "Like I said, I won't hurt you. For now, I'm just gonna ask you some questions."
The sneer returned to her face, and she rolled her eyes. "I told you, brat, I'm not giving you a karking thing."
"Then I guess I'll just talk to myself for a while," he said. Not even a flicker of humor.
'This could take some time,' he thought.
He started with the basics. Her name, even though he already knew it, where she was from, how she'd come to join the Commerce Guild fleet. She ignored all his questions, or else answered with insults. She had quite the supply of those, and he made a mental note to remember some of the more creative ones. It wasn't everyday someone called him the mutated spawn of an undead mynock and a Gammorean pillow dancer. He thought his laugh pissed her off nearly as much as stealing her ship. It took almost half an hour of prodding before he found a question that got a genuine response from her.
"What do you think of what Grievous has been doing with that ship?" He wasn't really expecting much of a response. So far she'd proven every inch the intractable brick wall she'd sworn to be. This time, though, her reaction was palpable. He may as well have hit her with a shock prod.
"What are you talking about?" She made a very obvious, and very poor, effort to appear disinterested. Her emotions betrayed her, though. Anger, disgust, regret, and duty flared in her so strong it made his head spin. Her presence was suddenly on edge. At that moment, he saw how to get through to her.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about," he said. "He's been slaughtering his way up the Corellian Run for weeks now without leaving a single survivor. We've even found escape pods torn to pieces. Force, you just watched him destroy a medical station. A medical station!" He let some power leak into his voice for that last sentence, and her mask of false apathy shattered like sugar glass. "Can you really tell me you're alright with that?"
Her mouth twitched before answering. "How dare you try to act all noble and superior with me? You think the Republic is any better than Grievous? My people tried to play the Senate's games for kriffing centuries, and where did it land us? Destitute, without even a planet to call our own! Even when the Republic oh-so-kindly deigned to let us live somewhere, they still strangled us. Kept us poor. Kept us weak. You can talk all you want about the Trade Federation and its blockades, but the Republic did the exact same thing to Kooriva."
"I know," he said gently. The sudden change in tone threw her off balance again. "I was in the Senate the day Magistrate Argente withdrew. Say what you will about the man-" and Naruto could say plenty, little of it good "-but your people have good reason to dislike the Republic. I won't argue with that."
Psitakai gaped at him and he shrugged.
"What? I'm a Jedi, not a moron. I serve the people of the Republic, not the Senate. There's plenty of good reasons not to like the Senate, but that's not what I asked you. I asked if you were alright with how General Grievous has been fighting this war. Is the captain who surrendered her ship without hesitation, just to save the lives of her crew, really going to look me in the eye and say she's okay with that monster's butchery?"
They stared at each other across the table for a long, uncomfortable few minutes. He didn't say anything more. He just let the weight of his gaze, of all the disgust, anger, and sorrow he felt at Grievous' actions, pin her in place. It was a trick Mace had taught him, and it rarely failed. Finally, something inside her snapped into place. She looked down and shook her head.
"No," she whispered. One of her hands crept up to rub her cranial horn. "No, I won't do that."
"Then tell me what you think will happen when he gets to Corellia, huh? What's that going to look like?"
She ground her teeth so hard he could hear it from across the table. The conflict inside her was strong enough to give him a headache. Duty fought with honor, anger with morality, and any pretense of staying quiet had long vanished. She pounded a fist into the table, and then did it again, as if in substitute for beating his face in.
"What does it matter, fool?" She growled. "We're at war. Taking Corellia will-"
"He's not going to take Corellia," Naruto said flatly. She jerked back and her eyes scanned his face, no doubt looking for lies. "We already alerted the Republic. They know about his weapon. They know he's coming. All our forces are staging to defend the system. Grievous can't win there, even with that weapon."
He wasn't nearly as sure of that as he was making himself sound. Sure, Grievous couldn't manage a true victory anymore. Even if he took the planet, he wouldn't have the forces left to occupy it for long. The Republic would take it back within a month. Naruto wasn't about to consider that a victory, though. Not for anyone but the carrion eaters.
"So what does keeping those codes from me do but condemn hundreds of thousands of people to death in a pointless battle? What about the millions on Corellia who will die when he tries to bombard the planet? You know that's what he'll do if he can't win." He paused and took a breath to center himself. "You're a soldier, Psitakai, not a mindless killer. You care about honor. You care about what's right."
"I care about winning the war!" she shouted.
"Screw the damn war!" He shouted back. "It's stupid. It's not solving anything. None of your problems are getting better because of the war. Maybe you'll win or maybe we will. I don't know. What I do know is that so long as madmen like Grievous are in charge of anything, nothing will come of this except death. He doesn't care about Kooriva, or Skako, or Raxus, or any of you. All he cares about is killing."
She looked stunned. Her emotions were a mix of numb shock and gradual resignation. He leaned forward until he was halfway across the table. "I'm not asking you to defect. I'm not asking you to betray your people. But we have an opportunity to stop Grievous from murdering millions of innocents. I can't do it without your help. So please help me, Psitakai. Please give me the codes."
Once again, her hand crept up to rub her horn. She chewed at her bottom lip and fidgeted back and forth uncomfortably.
"I'll be a traitor," she whispered. Just saying the word was enough to send a ripple of disgust through her mind. A similar ripple echoed in Thrawn. There was no worse crime a soldier could commit than betraying their people.
"Only you can decide if doing what's right is truly a betrayal," he said. "You're an honorable woman, Psitakai. Is Grievous really worth your loyalty? Is following him really how you want to help your people?"
She slumped back in her chair, all the fight gone out of her body. He leaned back himself and watched her, waiting. Thrawn watched too, those glowing red eyes scanning every miniscule detail of the Separatist captain as she fought a war within herself. Five minutes passed. Ten. Twenty. No one said a word. Finally, as thirty minutes were bleeding into forty, Psitakai straightened and took a deep, calm breath. When she spoke, her voice was soft, but steady. Sure.
"Bring me a padd," she said. "I'll give you the codes. But you have to promise me my crew will be safe."
Naruto wanted to slump out of his chair in relief. Instead, he signaled Thrawn to get her the padd. "I can either take your crew into Republic custody or I can leave you here. One of the shuttles in the hangar is still intact. It'll get you and your crew to Rhommamool, and you can figure out your next move from there. I'll let you discuss it with them. You'll have an hour."
She nodded. "One more thing, then. Promise me you'll destroy the Malevolence. Grievous can't be allowed to keep that ship. He's too much of a monster to have power like that."
He stood up and looked her square in the eyes. "You have my word. Thank you, Captain Psitakai."
OoOoOoOoOoOoO
Thrawn studied the padd with the IFF codes for a moment and then looked back up at the young Jedi who'd procured them.
"You are certain she was not lying?"
Uzumaki gave him an eye-smile and nodded. "Completely. I would have sensed it if she was."
He nodded. "I will take your word for it. Out of curiosity, though, how did you know to appeal to her sense of honor as a soldier? I had expected you to use one of your Jedi abilities to compel the information out of her. Still, your plan was quite effective."
Uzumaki looked at him oddly, as if he were confused. "I didn't go in there with a plan. That was just how our conversation went."
Thrawn raised an eyebrow. It was his only outward concession to the flabbergasted disbelief he was feeling inside. Uzumaki had gone into an interrogation without a plan? Not only that, but he'd cracked his subject, a seasoned veteran, in barely an hour.
"Sometimes you have to expect more out of people than they expect out of themselves," Uzumaki continued. "A lot of the time, they'll meet your expectations. People are usually a lot better than they give themselves credit for. You just have to get to know them."
"I… see," Thrawn said. And he did see, in a way. It was such a strange, naïve way of looking at the universe. By all rights, it shouldn't have worked. People weren't typically inclined to be selfless, and tended to take advantage of those few who were. With a view like that, Uzumaki should have been an easy mark for anyone with even the faintest hint of guile. And yet, he wasn't. His absurd, optimistic approach had worked. From the sound of it, this was hardly the first time, and Thrawn could almost see why. Anyone else would have been wrung out to dry, but there was something different about Uzumaki. Some charm or magnetism that made it hard to disappoint him. Thrawn had known him for less than a week, and he'd already seen it in action in a dozen different ways. People wanted to meet his standards, even when he never asked them to. They wanted to live up to the absurd ideals he'd chosen to uphold, and somehow, they managed it. That was the most absurd thing of all.
"Why art?" Uzumaki's voice cut through his thoughts and, as usual, left him somewhat bewildered.
"My apologies. Why… art?" He wondered if he would ever get used to the constant disorientation that came with proximity to Naruto Uzumaki.
"Yeah, yeah. The way I see it, you still owe me an answer from earlier, so I'm asking a new question. Back on the Thunderhead, you said you studied your enemy's art to help defeat them. So why art? How does it help?"
There was a question Thrawn had heard dozens of times before. Usually, though, it came wrapped in derision, skepticism, or even outright hostility. It was refreshing to hear nothing but genuine curiosity in Uzumaki's voice.
"Art is only a part of it," he explained. "To defeat an enemy, you must know them. This is common knowledge, though perhaps not as common as one might wish. However, most military commanders limit themselves to a study of their opponent's military history. That is useful information, certainly, but too limited in scope."
Uzumaki nodded in understanding. "People are more complicated than that."
Thrawn smiled. "Precisely. If you wish to defeat an enemy, you must understand them completely. Art serves me well in that regard. An artist's work is informed not only by his own experiences, but by his culture. The shared views and ideals of his people. Those same biases and philosophies will inform an enemy's tactics."
"That makes sense," Uzumaki said. He frowned, though. "What I don't get is how you get so much information from looking at a piece of artwork. I mean, how do you see it?"
"That is the more difficult part to explain. I am not entirely sure myself. It is something I have always been able to do. I have refined my skills over the years, yet I cannot say where the original talent came from." It was something that had troubled him throughout his career. It was difficult enough to convince others to follow a plan based on his analysis of an enemy tapestry. That he could not explain how he saw their aversion to layered defensive formations in the play of line and color only exacerbated the issue. "All I can say with confidence is that I can glean a great deal from examining artwork."
Uzumaki nodded thoughtfully and then unhooked his lightsaber from where it hung on his belt and held it out to him. He looked at it for a moment, then back up at the Jedi's smiling eyes, then back at the saber hilt.
"I do not understand."
Uzumaki chuckled. "Take it. Get a closer look."
Thrawn took the proffered lightsaber and held it up to the light. It was heavier than he'd expected, almost as if it were a solid piece of metal. The copper alloy with its twin strands of spiraling silvery metal was polished to a mirror shine. To his fascination, what he had previously taken for texturing was actually a series of tiny, intricate carvings twisting around the hilt. Row after row of them stretched nearly a third of the way from the emitter to the base.
"It is exquisite. You carved these yourself?"
"Uh-huh. I don't know if it's art, but it's all I've got. Just make sure to give it back to me when you're done with it."
He began to walk off and Thrawn stared at him, stunned. "You are letting me-"
"We're comrades now, remember?" Uzumaki interrupted. "Comrades need to know each other."
There was far more to it than that, Thrawn knew. Uzumaki wasn't just letting him examine his lightsaber so he could get to know the young man better. He'd told the Jedi what he could do with a piece of someone's art, and yet here he was, borrowed lightsaber in hand. It was a staggering declaration of trust, and he didn't know whether to feel honored or cynical at Uzumaki's naïveté.
Honored, he decided. Definitely honored.
"Commander, regarding your original question-"
"You'll tell me when you're ready. No rush." Then the young Jedi turned to look back at him, and there was no playful amusement in his eyes anymore. Instead, Thrawn saw the same steel he'd seen from him in battle. "But I will have my answer, Thrawn. And if I don't like what's going on, it will stop."
Thrawn met that unyielding gaze without flinching and nodded once. "I would expect nothing less, Commander Uzumaki."
They held each other's gaze for another second, and then the steel faded. Uzumaki gave him an eye-smile and laughed. "Call me Naruto. Now I'd better get us going if we're gonna make it to Corellia in time."
Then he turned again and walked away, leaving Thrawn with a lightsaber to study and more questions than ever.
OoOoOoOoOoOoO
Two Days Later
"I still don't understand why we're here."
Anakin glanced over at where his Padawan sat, arms crossed and a petulant glare on her face. His Padawan. The thought still made him dizzy, even after almost two months. He had a Padawan. And not just any run-of-the-mill brat, either. No, she was the fiercest, bravest, most driven girl in the whole Order, and he'd proudly shout words to that effect from the top of Tranquility Spire.
She was also a sarcastic, sharp-tongued little shit, but he didn't feel the need to advertise that side of her. She managed that just fine on her own. He loved his little brother, he really did, but of all the things he could have taught his friends, why had his total disregard for social norms and the opinions of others been one of them? Then again, if what Master Leem had told him was true, Ahsoka had been half-feral long before Naruto crashed headfirst into the Temple.
"I've told you, Snips. Master Yoda assigned the Open Circle fleet to reinforce-"
"'To reinforce Master Windu's defense of Corellia,'" she parroted. At least she swallowed her protein strip before talking this time. "I know that part already. But why are we down here?"
She flung a hand in a wide arc, encompassing their surroundings. Anakin had to admit, it wasn't a supremely inspiring vista. Corellia was an economic powerhouse, a center of industry and trade, and a cultural icon throughout the Republic, but it wasn't a tourist destination. At least, this part of it certainly wasn't. Long stretches of blocky gray buildings under a dull, cloudy sky did not make for pleasant viewing. Its lack of beauty did not equate to insignificance, though. Nestled among those ugly buildings was the largest power plant on Corellia. All around them were some of the biggest factories, fuel refineries, and repair yards the planet had to offer.
"I'm not going to explain it again," he sighed. "You know why it's important to guard this area. And where did you get all those?"
He pointed at the packet of protein strips she was failing to conceal under her arm. It was at least the second one he'd seen her with today, which was remarkable, considering they weren't part of GAR rations. She glanced at the packet and shrugged.
"Jesse got them for me." She dug into the bag and offered him a piece, which was nice of her. Ahsoka did not share food lightly. "I've got six bags now. He said he tactically acquired them, whatever that means."
Anakin almost choked on his food. Of course it had been Jesse, and of course he'd stolen them. He made a mental note to give the clone a stern lecture later. He didn't mind the men looking out for Ahsoka, but he would have preferred if they didn't commit felonies just to keep her supplied with snacks. Then again, given her teenage appetite, he supposed he could let it slide. Just this once.
"Anyway, I get why it's so important to protect the power plant," Ahsoka continued. "But why are we the ones who have to do it? We should be up in space with Master Kenobi and Master Windu. That's where the real battle will be. They'll need all the help they can get."
Anakin had to struggle not to sigh, especially because a large part of him agreed with her. If what Naruto had told Master Windu was true, then their space forces really would need every bit of help they could get. He wasn't going to pretend to modesty and downplay his skills. In a starfighter, he could make a serious difference. But he couldn't afford to just think about what he could do now. This would be Ahsoka's first major battle. She'd seen some skirmishes already, but he'd kept her away from the worst of it. For all her skill, and she was amazing, he didn't want her in a slugfest like what was about to happen in orbit. Not yet. At least down here he could keep an eye on her. So he'd asked Obi-Wan to assign them to the ground defense.
Of course, he wasn't about to tell her that. He'd never hear the end of it. He wasn't about to lie to her, either, which left changing the subject.
"How's your hand?" He asked. The hand in question was wrapped in a layer of bandages. The pale blue edges of a bacta dressing poked out from under the gauze.
"It's fine," she said and wiggled her fingers to demonstrate. "Kix fixed it right up. It wasn't even that bad to begin with."
He raised an eyebrow. That much, at least, Obi-Wan had managed to pass on. "Second degree chakra burns aren't nothing, Snips. The rasengan is cool as hell, but that doesn't mean you can blow your hand off trying to learn it. I'm pretty sure Naruto told you to be careful with the second step, didn't he?"
She winced and developed a keen interest in a point just over his left ear. For someone who could swindle a Klatooinian out of a nerf burger when she put her mind to it, Ahsoka was shockingly bad at hiding a guilty conscience.
"I was so close, though. I could feel it. Just a few more tries, and the ball would have popped. You got it after just a couple of hours. It's been weeks for me. I just wanted to get it right."
He could feel her impatience and frustration through their training bond. It was still too new for them to communicate with words, but feelings and impressions came through just fine. All those messy, too-big emotions were a shocking reminder of just how young Ahsoka really was. It was easy to forget, given how well she'd done so far, but his Padawan wasn't even 15. He smiled and laid his real hand atop her head. She grunted and pressed herself into the contact a little harder.
"Have patience, little one," he said in his best wise master's voice. He didn't think it was very good, but she didn't laugh in his face, so it couldn't have been completely awful. "We each have strengths and weaknesses. Don't compare your progress to someone else's. You wouldn't make fun of someone for not mastering a skill as fast as you, would you?"
Another grunt was the only answer he received, but it was enough. She'd heard what he was trying to say. He rubbed her head for a few more seconds, anyway. She needed more physical contact, and the war made it tough for her to get it. It made a lot of things tough. If it were up to him, he'd have her in the Temple, working on her awareness with the training remotes and mastering balance in the Room of a Thousand Fountains. Instead, he had her on a battlefield, testing her skills against real opponents who wanted her dead. There was nothing for it but to adapt and keep moving forward, though. He gave her one last pat and then tapped the bag of snacks.
"Alright, put those away. If your hand's all better, then we can work on your Shien some more. You're relying too much on your acrobatics. If you want to keep using the reverse grip, you'll need to practice twice as hard."
A radiant smile transformed her face, and the bond glowed with excitement. Training was always a surefire way of lifting her mood. The protein strips vanished so fast he didn't even see it.
"Finally," she crowed. "Can we get the men to help out again? That was great last time they-"
Her voice trailed off, and he didn't have to ask why. They'd both felt it. Like a cloud passing over the sun, or a cold breeze on a warm day, the Force darkened. He looked up at where he knew Obi-Wan's flagship hung in the sky.
"They're here, aren't they?" Ahsoka asked, voice leaden.
"Yes," he said. "Let's get to work."
OoOoOoOoOoOoO
I think this is the first time in this story I've had Naruto use the proper talk-no-jutsu. I've been wanting to for a while, but there just haven't been many opportunities. Most of the enemies he's faced up to now have either been totally irredeemable, too dangerous to talk to, or both. I was halfway through writing a version of the interrogation where Naruto used the Force to compel Psitakai to speak when I realized he would never resort to such methods without at least trying to talk sense into her first. I played around with a few different versions of the conversation, and it evolved into the scene you got above.
If you have any questions, criticisms, or long-winded lectures on literary structure for me, please leave a review. Thank you, and I'll see you next time.