Stiff. Withdrawn. Uncertain.
These were the thoughts that ran through Mitth’raw’nuruodo’s, commonly known in Imperial Space as Thrawn, head as he looked upon the Inquisitor. Their features were unknown to him, whether they were alien or human, also unknown, although by body language alone he was assuming human. They were covered head to toe in black, some slashes of red or silver, but as his white attire, it was a uniform, not an outfit of their choosing. It revealed little save the organization they had sworn themselves to.
And Thrawn knew little of the Inquisitors, and what they had once been – Jedi. Of course, he wasn’t even supposed to know they were formerly Jedi.
“You are hiring a bounty hunter to hunt the Jedi?”
Mild bewilderment. Fear. Anger.
“No,” Thrawn answered, maintaining a patient tone and a calm expression, “I am hiring a bounty hunter to look for artifacts relating to the Jedi, as a group, not as an individual. The way to find Cal Kestis will be to understand him. He has evaded capture for many years now, and I believe the flaw is that many do not understand the Jedi.”
The Inquisitor scoffed. “There is nothing left that will help you understand the Jedi.”
“Perhaps,” Thrawn allowed, “but I will determine that. I have heard there is a bust of a Jedi on the planet Tund, held by Sorcerers of Tund.” Thrawn observed the shift of her posture, moving her weight to her other leg, clenching and unclenching a fist, before bringing both arms to fold over her chest. She knew something about the Sorcerers of Tund, however, she would not speak to it.
“Cal is not on Tund.”
“No? The Empire is only aware that the Mantis was spotted in this system.”
“His MO has been to rescue people and gather artifacts that actually matter, not some random bust of a lost Jedi—”
“Lost Jedi?”
Tension. Fists clenched and didn’t relax. Posture stiffened, weight balanced out again.
Though she paused at the interruption, she did not elaborate, and just continued her train of thought, “—so I’ll be going to Akrit’tar.”
“I am not giving you leave to do so.” Thrawn noted.
“I would like to see you stop me.”
Thrawn could feel a headache building. The Inquisitors were not his to command, but he was meant to work with the Inquisitor, all the same. He knew they did not answer to anyone save their own, Darth Vader, and the Emperor. He had expected a bit more subservience, but apparently he had been wrong to assume that. He’d heard a few horror stories, but nothing recent – no doubt, because of how few Inquisitors were left.
He would not press the matter. He knew better than to waste his soldiers on something as petty as this. “I will not stop you, and your ship will not be blocked from leaving the hangar,” Thrawn answered, but the flash of threat was in his red eyes, “I will be informing Emperor Palpatine of all of your decisions.”
Again, the implications seemed to mean little to the Inquisitor.
Weight shift. Fists unclenched. Hands have fallen to sides.
“I’m sure he’ll love to know how you’re wasting his time and resources on frivolities.”
Posture shift backwards. Arms more open. Combative.
“I’ll be going now. Good luck with your collection.” The Inquisitor turned and left his office, leaving Thrawn to sigh when the doors shut behind them. He would be true to his word, and he pressed the comm on his desk for the Bridge.
“Commander Faro,” the familiar female voice greeted.
“Please make certain the hangar space in Hangar 5 is clear; the Inquisitor will be taking their leave of the Chimaera.” It was another ship that told Thrawn nothing about either Inquisitors or Jedi, a standard-issue TIE/Reaper fighter, one of the few TIEs with the ability to jump into lightspeed. Of course, that was going to be necessary on this mission – there were plenty of planets to track.
Interesting that the Inquisitor had decided on one, and on one motive for the Jedi.
Even if she was correct, Thrawn was not too concerned. Cal Kestis had taken down other Inquisitors. That was the flaw in the plan, approaching him directly. Thrawn needed to learn more to trap both Cal, and the rest of the Mantis crew, which he knew included the Jedi Cere Junda, the Nightsister Merrin, and latero Greez Dritus. He would not make the mistakes the Inquisitors consistently made.
“Understood. We also have an approaching ship, not an Imperial vessel. They’ve given the clearance codes, and named themselves Kayoi Bonzuc.”
A tight smile came to his lips. What timing. “That would be my bounty hunter,” Thrawn answered, “bring them into Hangar 2, and see to it that they are escorted to my office,” Thrawn requested, adding, “We’ll then need to prepare a jump these coordinates,” he offered them calmly to Karyn Faro, and let her repeat them back. “Once the Inquisitor has left.”
With that settled, he would take out his datapad to once more skim the information he had on the bounty hunter, who he knew had dabbled a bit in smuggling. Someone who just killed would not be useful to him, after all. What he was after, was items, not the death of others. Not just yet, anyways.
~***~
Fourth Sister would find no issues getting into her ship and leaving the hangar. Thrawn was one of the smart Imperial Officers, she’d give him that much credit. He had neither been intimidated by her, nor had he decided to try and show off what authority he had and get others injured, or killed, in the process. Fourth Sister hadn’t been concerned standing up to him, really. Sure, he was one of Palpatine’s favored – but that only went so far where the Jedi were concerned.
Not to mention, in the public sphere, he was less well-loved than most Imperial Officers because his skin happened to be blue.
Not a concern for Fourth Sister; alien or not, she didn’t care any longer. She hadn’t cared in the past, either, but now she was aware of its use without caring about the horrors of that use. If Thrawn got in her way, it wouldn’t be difficult to turn people against him.
For now, it was an unnecessary train of thought.
For now, she had the quiet of her TIE as it left the hangar, and launched into lightspeed in order to reach Akrit’tar, a desolate wasteland of a planet suitable only for precisely what the Empire used it for – a prison. Even if one escaped, they’d have to go on to hijack a ship. Life wasn’t sustainable on the planet. Nothing grew. Everything had to be imported. Fourth Sister didn’t know the history that made the planet such a wasteland, or if it had always been that way.
She just knew the length of the trip, and in that time, she meditated.
That practice wasn’t lost to her, at any rate.
When her TIE came out of lightspeed, she flew it towards the prison and was soon hailed. “TIE/Reaper, identify yourself.”
Fourth Sister didn’t speak, just pressed a button to transmit the information on the identichip she already had in place. It took a few moments, before they responded, “We weren’t expecting any inquisitors….”
“I didn’t send a warning,” she indicated, the worry not surprising her in the least.
“I’m afraid we don’t have any landing space—”
“I’ll find space,” and with that, she cut communications and flew on down to do just that, whether it was in a proper landing space or not. It wasn’t of much concern to her, she could do more when she actually arrived so far as convincing them her presence was necessary.
Unbeknownst to her, the one she had been speaking with was not, in fact, an Imperial Officer. Greez Dritus cursed to himself and adjusted his earpiece and information on his datapad to push a call out to Cal. “Bad news kid, we’ve got an Inquisitor incoming – I couldn’t delay them. Better find that guy quick, I’m gonna get back to the Mantis so she’s hot and ready for our escape.”
These were the thoughts that ran through Mitth’raw’nuruodo’s, commonly known in Imperial Space as Thrawn, head as he looked upon the Inquisitor. Their features were unknown to him, whether they were alien or human, also unknown, although by body language alone he was assuming human. They were covered head to toe in black, some slashes of red or silver, but as his white attire, it was a uniform, not an outfit of their choosing. It revealed little save the organization they had sworn themselves to.
And Thrawn knew little of the Inquisitors, and what they had once been – Jedi. Of course, he wasn’t even supposed to know they were formerly Jedi.
“You are hiring a bounty hunter to hunt the Jedi?”
Mild bewilderment. Fear. Anger.
“No,” Thrawn answered, maintaining a patient tone and a calm expression, “I am hiring a bounty hunter to look for artifacts relating to the Jedi, as a group, not as an individual. The way to find Cal Kestis will be to understand him. He has evaded capture for many years now, and I believe the flaw is that many do not understand the Jedi.”
The Inquisitor scoffed. “There is nothing left that will help you understand the Jedi.”
“Perhaps,” Thrawn allowed, “but I will determine that. I have heard there is a bust of a Jedi on the planet Tund, held by Sorcerers of Tund.” Thrawn observed the shift of her posture, moving her weight to her other leg, clenching and unclenching a fist, before bringing both arms to fold over her chest. She knew something about the Sorcerers of Tund, however, she would not speak to it.
“Cal is not on Tund.”
“No? The Empire is only aware that the Mantis was spotted in this system.”
“His MO has been to rescue people and gather artifacts that actually matter, not some random bust of a lost Jedi—”
“Lost Jedi?”
Tension. Fists clenched and didn’t relax. Posture stiffened, weight balanced out again.
Though she paused at the interruption, she did not elaborate, and just continued her train of thought, “—so I’ll be going to Akrit’tar.”
“I am not giving you leave to do so.” Thrawn noted.
“I would like to see you stop me.”
Thrawn could feel a headache building. The Inquisitors were not his to command, but he was meant to work with the Inquisitor, all the same. He knew they did not answer to anyone save their own, Darth Vader, and the Emperor. He had expected a bit more subservience, but apparently he had been wrong to assume that. He’d heard a few horror stories, but nothing recent – no doubt, because of how few Inquisitors were left.
He would not press the matter. He knew better than to waste his soldiers on something as petty as this. “I will not stop you, and your ship will not be blocked from leaving the hangar,” Thrawn answered, but the flash of threat was in his red eyes, “I will be informing Emperor Palpatine of all of your decisions.”
Again, the implications seemed to mean little to the Inquisitor.
Weight shift. Fists unclenched. Hands have fallen to sides.
“I’m sure he’ll love to know how you’re wasting his time and resources on frivolities.”
Posture shift backwards. Arms more open. Combative.
“I’ll be going now. Good luck with your collection.” The Inquisitor turned and left his office, leaving Thrawn to sigh when the doors shut behind them. He would be true to his word, and he pressed the comm on his desk for the Bridge.
“Commander Faro,” the familiar female voice greeted.
“Please make certain the hangar space in Hangar 5 is clear; the Inquisitor will be taking their leave of the Chimaera.” It was another ship that told Thrawn nothing about either Inquisitors or Jedi, a standard-issue TIE/Reaper fighter, one of the few TIEs with the ability to jump into lightspeed. Of course, that was going to be necessary on this mission – there were plenty of planets to track.
Interesting that the Inquisitor had decided on one, and on one motive for the Jedi.
Even if she was correct, Thrawn was not too concerned. Cal Kestis had taken down other Inquisitors. That was the flaw in the plan, approaching him directly. Thrawn needed to learn more to trap both Cal, and the rest of the Mantis crew, which he knew included the Jedi Cere Junda, the Nightsister Merrin, and latero Greez Dritus. He would not make the mistakes the Inquisitors consistently made.
“Understood. We also have an approaching ship, not an Imperial vessel. They’ve given the clearance codes, and named themselves Kayoi Bonzuc.”
A tight smile came to his lips. What timing. “That would be my bounty hunter,” Thrawn answered, “bring them into Hangar 2, and see to it that they are escorted to my office,” Thrawn requested, adding, “We’ll then need to prepare a jump these coordinates,” he offered them calmly to Karyn Faro, and let her repeat them back. “Once the Inquisitor has left.”
With that settled, he would take out his datapad to once more skim the information he had on the bounty hunter, who he knew had dabbled a bit in smuggling. Someone who just killed would not be useful to him, after all. What he was after, was items, not the death of others. Not just yet, anyways.
~***~
Fourth Sister would find no issues getting into her ship and leaving the hangar. Thrawn was one of the smart Imperial Officers, she’d give him that much credit. He had neither been intimidated by her, nor had he decided to try and show off what authority he had and get others injured, or killed, in the process. Fourth Sister hadn’t been concerned standing up to him, really. Sure, he was one of Palpatine’s favored – but that only went so far where the Jedi were concerned.
Not to mention, in the public sphere, he was less well-loved than most Imperial Officers because his skin happened to be blue.
Not a concern for Fourth Sister; alien or not, she didn’t care any longer. She hadn’t cared in the past, either, but now she was aware of its use without caring about the horrors of that use. If Thrawn got in her way, it wouldn’t be difficult to turn people against him.
For now, it was an unnecessary train of thought.
For now, she had the quiet of her TIE as it left the hangar, and launched into lightspeed in order to reach Akrit’tar, a desolate wasteland of a planet suitable only for precisely what the Empire used it for – a prison. Even if one escaped, they’d have to go on to hijack a ship. Life wasn’t sustainable on the planet. Nothing grew. Everything had to be imported. Fourth Sister didn’t know the history that made the planet such a wasteland, or if it had always been that way.
She just knew the length of the trip, and in that time, she meditated.
That practice wasn’t lost to her, at any rate.
When her TIE came out of lightspeed, she flew it towards the prison and was soon hailed. “TIE/Reaper, identify yourself.”
Fourth Sister didn’t speak, just pressed a button to transmit the information on the identichip she already had in place. It took a few moments, before they responded, “We weren’t expecting any inquisitors….”
“I didn’t send a warning,” she indicated, the worry not surprising her in the least.
“I’m afraid we don’t have any landing space—”
“I’ll find space,” and with that, she cut communications and flew on down to do just that, whether it was in a proper landing space or not. It wasn’t of much concern to her, she could do more when she actually arrived so far as convincing them her presence was necessary.
Unbeknownst to her, the one she had been speaking with was not, in fact, an Imperial Officer. Greez Dritus cursed to himself and adjusted his earpiece and information on his datapad to push a call out to Cal. “Bad news kid, we’ve got an Inquisitor incoming – I couldn’t delay them. Better find that guy quick, I’m gonna get back to the Mantis so she’s hot and ready for our escape.”
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