Thrawn Chimaera : Galactic Civil War

Chapter Eight

The Arquitens-class command cruiser arrived to Ryloth not long after Ziinuuvitas met with Thrawn at the hangar of the Chimaera. They took a shuttle to the light cruiser first, and then the smaller imperial command ship entered the atmosphere of the planet bellow. There, it stood within some distance from Tann Province, where they could see the pinnacles and the lights of the place.

Ziinuuvitas stood next to Thrawn as instructed, her own hands mimicking the Admiral, resting behind the back as they watched the patrolling TIEs in the dark.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Thrawn asked, although it sounded more like a comment to himself. "A proud species, the Twi'lek. They have an ancient and rich history of non-violence, preferring intellect and cleverness to outright brutality. That is why Cham Syndulla managed to make a fool of Slavin so far."

She pondered on his words.

"And that is why you managed to conquer his home in one day." she replied. "Sir."

Thrawn didn't look at her, keeping his eyes on the dusk brown and red-ochres engulfing the image of the Province.

"We managed." He stressed. "Your work cannot be discredited Captain. I insist, in fact."

"I am grateful that you acknowledge me, Grand Admiral." She replied politely.

Of course, the thought of herself helping the Empire in it's evil conquest of world's didn't exactly sit right with her. Being included in the We was like a knife through her heart.

Thrawn glanced at her, noticing her eyes fixed on the dark landscape before them.

"You seem preoccupied." He tells her after observing her expression carefully.

Ziinuuvitas raised her eyebrows in surprise, eyes tearing from the view to him as her face moved slightly to match the stare.

"It would be most unwise for the rebels, to send Phoenix Squadron." She told him. That wasn't what was on her mind, but it was a plausible excuse.

"It would..." he agreed, eyes still on her own. "Have you considered other possibilities?"

"Several. None of them a good move from their part. Too risky, and the rewards are close to zero, if one is..."

"Logical." He provided the word for her. "You are certainly right of course. Like in any game of strategy, a move needs to be calculated based on the weight of the pros and cons. In chess, sometimes we need to choose between two pieces. Some pieces are more valuable, while others are positioned in a way that their value doesn't matter, thus letting them go is a lesser evil. In the end, all we do is for the greater good, and sacrifices have to be made in order to achieve it."

"You play, Admiral?" she asked. That wasn't surprising coming from him, but she didn't know of it.

"All the time. Even now." He smiled.

"I see. Is the Empire the black, or the white, in your opinion? Sir?" she asked, looking back at the viewport.

"White. It moved first." He says. "You play, Captain?"

"It keeps me entertained." She told him. "I didn't like it when I was a child. It was boring. I only started to enjoy it when I programmed mine to learn my moves and so I played alone against my own tactics."

Thrawn actually chuckled hearing that. It didn't surprise him much hearing she played chess to keep her mind entertained, but it was still a welcoming thought.

"I presume the boredom came from the fact that you kept wining effortlessly?"

"I don't mean to claim I'm an expert. As I said, I play to entertain myself... Looking back, I think none of my adversaries was any good. It's not hard to win a game in such circumstances." She told him, glancing side ways at the blue man.

"Hmm. And do you play often?" he asked. His interest was rising.

"I'm not sure what often entails, but I'd say yes. Obviously it's been a while now." She chuckled ta the last part.

"Because your duty takes all the time?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Because I didn't bring it. I dislike playing on the HoloNet."

"I see... A shame then. So what do you do now, to entertain you mind in your free time, Captain?"

Ziinuuvitas thought about it for a moment. It occurred to her that she didn't exactly have free time, he was making sure of that. Or maybe she had, if only she wasn't busy spying on the Empire for the Rebellion.

"I train. Sometimes I run some simulations that I bully the pilots into lending me... If I'm being honest. Although something tells me that you already knew that, Grand Admiral." She says.

Of course there were no real secrets on board the Chimaera, not for him at least. Not from the crew.

Thrawn smirked. "Your intuition serves you well. But I'm glad you are taking it seriously, the fact that I asked you to improve your piloting skills in a wider range of vehicles. But tell me, now I'm curious... If the Empire is white, then would you say the Rebellion is black?"

She thought again before answering.

"Yes and no. The Rebellion is not a single faction. At least not yet. I would say that the Rebellion is, instead, the black Queen. It's an important piece, and can move in all directions except like the Knight. But you don't move her too much in the beginning because it's protecting the King there and you'd want to keep it for a better opportunity."

"Interesting approach... So who is the King in that scenario?" he asked.

"For the Blacks? The people. For the Whites? The Emperor. That's how each side sees them. That's the power people choose to believe, the lie, as we discussed before." She said.

"What about your own perception of said pieces?" he asked.

"I'm an Agent, sir. My perception is that which I just mentioned."

She couldn't exactly speak against the Emperor or the Empire, even if she was not a rebel. As an Agent, it was her job to extinguish such opinions from other individuals, one way or another.

"Hmmm." He smiled. "But I'm asking for your true opinion. Of course, I understand your scepticism in speaking truthfully regarding this, in front of your Grand Admiral. So I'll offer my own opinion first, since I'd like to hear yours without the ISB filter."

"Grand Admiral. You already faced many problems because of your-"

"I appreciate the concern, Captain. But I assure you that it's quite safe to talk here right now. No one else is listening." He smiled. "But fist I'll ask: why do we need an Empire?"

She frowned. So he turned and walked to the desk, pressing the button that turned the Galaxy Map on. He then closed the shutters and zoomed the Holo projection in a way that the entire room was now dark, with the full Galaxy surrounding them as if they were in space, among the stars and systems.

It was almost beautiful the environment, she thought. But the presence of the blue person there made Ziinuuvitas' heart beat faster, he was very intimidating and his eyes were glowing even more.

From his perspective, the light of the thousands of galactic objects only accentuated her haunting features. It was like an artistic portrait of the Captain, her figure engulfed in sparkling mist.

However... There in complete darkness, he couldn't shake the impression that her eyes had a strange... Luminosity. Especially what he knew to be a crimson circle around her pupil, but also the corners, and all around the sclera where the eyelids met the orbs. Even the tiny pink veins, that chronic inflammation of the eyes, even that was much more visible now, as if each vermilion vein had it's own light.

And to top it all, the dark purple circles around her eyes were now... Also bright. All around, under the skin where her eyes were, there was a very faint glow. One that only a trained eye could spot, perhaps. One that he could spot.

It was captivating, stirring something inside his chest: a mix between admiration for a beautiful piece, and irritating inquisitive suspicion. Something was definitely off about his Captain, and now he had planted the seed of obsession deep inside himself.

"Multiple species, with multiple viewpoints and racial philosophies, simply cannot hold power together for long." He told her, his voice smooth and assertive. "The dominant voice must certainly be wise enough to adopt ideas and methods from its allies and member peoples. But there must be a dominant voice, or there is only chaos. In this part of the galaxy, that voice is the Empire." He explained.

"Isn't that the same of what existed before? The Republic with it's Senate...?" she asked.

"The principle is the same. But the Republic failed to bring order because too many voices were speaking and none was taking the decisions. No one dared to act when they had to choose the Lesser Evil for the Greater Good. Instead, they talked, and talked, allowing a faction to split, the Separatists. It brought chaos."

Ziinuuvitas sighed. He wasn't wrong.

"The Emperor, he's a Knight. Like his right-hand, Lord Vader. Both Knights, only one moves first."

She frowned. "So who's the King to you?"

He smiled, but it was an almost sad smile she noticed.

"Those who are limited in the way they can move. Those who lack more options and are therefore in need of constant protection despite being the most important thing." He said, walking around.

It sounded as if he was intentionally leaving it vague. So she decided another question to shed more light into this, because something told her he had just revealed a very personal information to her.

"The ultimate goal of the game is to keep the king alive, long enough for the other to loose. You suggest that this is something constantly on your mind, the way you chose your words and speak them. Grand Admiral. Which in turn suggests that each action is an extension of that desire, to protect the King. You'd rather avoid conflict, but your hands are tied in the sense that, you feel a threat to your King." She reasoned first, and noticed him watching her now, like a predator.