“Status, Commander Faro.”
The woman looked down at her datapad. “Approximately minutes until Commander Tarkin arrives, Admiral.”
Thrawn nodded. “Excellent.”
Several weeks earlier, a pirate wanted by the Empire found ground on Ithor. Soon, it was discovered that the pirate was a Jedi, but they couldn’t pin down their location. A blockade was set up to ensure that the Jedi couldn’t leave the planet, but therein remains the problem of finding them.
And they couldn’t just go to the planet and search for the Jedi, either. The planet held very sacred beliefs concerning hunting, and while most Imperials would disregard those beliefs as silly, Thrawn did not and would not.
It was vital to keep the people of the planet on their side, and upsetting them would sway them the opposite.
So Thrawn requested an expert on Ithor customs, and to his surprise, he was sent one without much argument as to why they should be mindful of the customs of some backwoods planet.
And it was a Tarkin. Not Grand Moff Tarkin, thankfully, but someone else of the family. Someone he was curious to meet and see how they compared to Wilhuff.
For his sanity, he hoped they were different enough.
Thrawn entered the hangar, where everyone was moving about in preparation of the Commander’s arrival. A few nodded their heads in acknowledgement at their Grand Admiral as they passed him, but most focused on their task, as he preferred.
“Commander Tarkin is approaching, sir.” He could almost hear the thoughts racing through Faro’s brain. ‘I really don’t want another Grand Moff Tarkin.’ He could only agree.
Thrawn nodded his acknowledgement at Faro, and he straightened himself as the hangar doors opened to allow the aircraft to come in and land. He waited nearby for the Commander to disembark, quite eager to see how the first impression of this Tarkin would go.
For his sake, and for the sake of his closest in command Faro and Vanto, he could only hope they proved to be more agreeable.
~~~
“Lorelai!”
Ayla straightened up from her hunched position over the latest incoming crates, inspecting the contents for anything out of the ordinary. She arched a brow at her supervisor approaching her. “What is it, Callahan?”
He walked at a brisk pace, only stopping once by her side. “Get yourself together and look presentable.” Ayla looked unamused at her supervisor. He huffed. “Imperial soldiers are coming here for their shipment. They’ll be here soon.”
Ayla swore she felt her heart freeze. Being so close to Imperials was always risky, and she had managed to avoid detection for so long. Not every Jedi-in-hiding was so lucky. What if she slipped up this time?
But she wouldn’t. She would remain low, let her supervisor do what was needed, and get on with her job.
If need be, she’ll move on and find another job on some other planet far away.
After a brief conversation, Ayla tried to turn back to her job, but her mind was far gone from the task that she only pretended to focus on what she was doing before she heard the arrival of the Imperials.
Callahan scrambled into position to meet and greet them. Words were exchanged, but Ayla hardly paid them any attention, as she focused more on keeping herself calm and not physically having an anxiety attack around the Imperials. That would not look good for her.
But as Callahan spoke to them, they slowly approached where she was working, so Ayla busied herself so they wouldn’t speak to her.
“What is your name?”
Ah fuck. She just couldn’t stay invisible.
Ayla straightened up and turned to face the Imperials. “Lorelai. Lorelai Vale.”
“One of my hardest workers,” Callahan praised.
The Imperial speaking nodded. “Good. We’re pleased to see the trust of its valuable shipments into the hands of capable workers. Now, if you don’t mind loading our shipment onto our ship, so that you may return to your duties.”
“Of course, sir,” Callahan said, before getting out his datapad to input the command to others working nearby to help. Ayla could feel her hands shake a little, but she did her best to swallow her nerves. The sooner they could load the cargo, the sooner they would leave.
The woman looked down at her datapad. “Approximately minutes until Commander Tarkin arrives, Admiral.”
Thrawn nodded. “Excellent.”
Several weeks earlier, a pirate wanted by the Empire found ground on Ithor. Soon, it was discovered that the pirate was a Jedi, but they couldn’t pin down their location. A blockade was set up to ensure that the Jedi couldn’t leave the planet, but therein remains the problem of finding them.
And they couldn’t just go to the planet and search for the Jedi, either. The planet held very sacred beliefs concerning hunting, and while most Imperials would disregard those beliefs as silly, Thrawn did not and would not.
It was vital to keep the people of the planet on their side, and upsetting them would sway them the opposite.
So Thrawn requested an expert on Ithor customs, and to his surprise, he was sent one without much argument as to why they should be mindful of the customs of some backwoods planet.
And it was a Tarkin. Not Grand Moff Tarkin, thankfully, but someone else of the family. Someone he was curious to meet and see how they compared to Wilhuff.
For his sanity, he hoped they were different enough.
Thrawn entered the hangar, where everyone was moving about in preparation of the Commander’s arrival. A few nodded their heads in acknowledgement at their Grand Admiral as they passed him, but most focused on their task, as he preferred.
“Commander Tarkin is approaching, sir.” He could almost hear the thoughts racing through Faro’s brain. ‘I really don’t want another Grand Moff Tarkin.’ He could only agree.
Thrawn nodded his acknowledgement at Faro, and he straightened himself as the hangar doors opened to allow the aircraft to come in and land. He waited nearby for the Commander to disembark, quite eager to see how the first impression of this Tarkin would go.
For his sake, and for the sake of his closest in command Faro and Vanto, he could only hope they proved to be more agreeable.
~~~
“Lorelai!”
Ayla straightened up from her hunched position over the latest incoming crates, inspecting the contents for anything out of the ordinary. She arched a brow at her supervisor approaching her. “What is it, Callahan?”
He walked at a brisk pace, only stopping once by her side. “Get yourself together and look presentable.” Ayla looked unamused at her supervisor. He huffed. “Imperial soldiers are coming here for their shipment. They’ll be here soon.”
Ayla swore she felt her heart freeze. Being so close to Imperials was always risky, and she had managed to avoid detection for so long. Not every Jedi-in-hiding was so lucky. What if she slipped up this time?
But she wouldn’t. She would remain low, let her supervisor do what was needed, and get on with her job.
If need be, she’ll move on and find another job on some other planet far away.
After a brief conversation, Ayla tried to turn back to her job, but her mind was far gone from the task that she only pretended to focus on what she was doing before she heard the arrival of the Imperials.
Callahan scrambled into position to meet and greet them. Words were exchanged, but Ayla hardly paid them any attention, as she focused more on keeping herself calm and not physically having an anxiety attack around the Imperials. That would not look good for her.
But as Callahan spoke to them, they slowly approached where she was working, so Ayla busied herself so they wouldn’t speak to her.
“What is your name?”
Ah fuck. She just couldn’t stay invisible.
Ayla straightened up and turned to face the Imperials. “Lorelai. Lorelai Vale.”
“One of my hardest workers,” Callahan praised.
The Imperial speaking nodded. “Good. We’re pleased to see the trust of its valuable shipments into the hands of capable workers. Now, if you don’t mind loading our shipment onto our ship, so that you may return to your duties.”
“Of course, sir,” Callahan said, before getting out his datapad to input the command to others working nearby to help. Ayla could feel her hands shake a little, but she did her best to swallow her nerves. The sooner they could load the cargo, the sooner they would leave.