FicWad

A few simple touches in the Force - each one the barest breath of an actual touch - that and no more. To do any more would be to risk having Mitth'raw'nuruodo realize that some kind of outside influence is attempting to affect his judgment and so (given both his complete lack of training in the Force and his essential ignorance regarding the Force) inevitably reach the wrong conclusion entirely regarding the source of that attempted interference. And that is a risk that Revan simply cannot take - not when he's so close to succeeding that he can practically see Sidious' tools digging their own graves, now, and especially not when it is just as easy (and far more practical, for one who wishes to minimize risk) to provide the direction he wishes to give by influencing the beings who surround and interact with the Chiss Commander, instead. Jorj Car'das. Kinman Doriana. Vicelord Siv Kav. The other two human crew of the Bargain Hunter/. Certain of the other Chiss, if necessary - even Admiral Ar'alani and Syndic Mitth'ras'safis (though he must be very careful with that one, given his intelligence and potential strength in the Force), if providing a little bit of direct guidance for their thoughts and actions will help to chivvy Thrawn along. Using such tools is much safer and just as effective (if not more so, considering the limitations and constraints that certain of their actions could potentially place upon the Commander) as using the Force to try to influence Thrawn directly. Of course, this does not mean that he cannot or should not continue to /monitor Thrawn. Indeed, monitoring and attempting to directly influence someone with the Force is not at all the same thing. Besides, keeping track of the Commander and his thoughts really is the only effective way to gauge the actual success of Revan's attempts at indirect guidance.

Which is precisely the reason why Revan finds himself following the Commander instead of Car'das, fairly soon after the meeting with Kav and Doriana, reaching out through the Force to carefully - ever so carefully! - first brush up against and then penetrate, unnoticed, the surface layer of the Chiss Commander's thoughts, delving deep beyond the upper layers of awareness in search of whatever decisions and plans are already fomenting in the back of that brilliant mind, not only regarding the Trade Federation task force and the Outbound Flight Project but also the Vagaari and the safety and well-being not only of his own people and their allies in the Chiss Ascendancy but of the beings inhabiting nearby systems as well and perhaps even the Galactic Republic, starting with the Bargain Hunter's crew and extending to the crew and passengers of /Outbound Flight/, if not further. If, that is, Revan has indeed been as successful as he hopes . . .

Crahsystor Mitth'raw'nuruodo is a frightfully intelligent, compellingly charismatic, and extremely adaptable young man. These are both his greatest strengths, as a Commander, and his most potentially dangerous flaws, as a Chiss warrior. And he is well aware of the fact. His entire immediate family is far more intelligent and charismatic than the Chiss norm: it is why he and his (elder) brother are not only merit-adoptees but actual Trial-born members of the Eighth Ruling Family and all three of their (elder) sisters have made very good marriages in various of the Ruling Families and are considered to have much the same rank and status within those Families as Trial-born, ranking distant members. His ambitious brother, Mitth'ras'safis, merely seems to wish to be deemed worthy enough to be matched permanently to the Family and so granted the position of ranking distant (which would tie his descendants and bloodline into the Family's) and, as a Syndic, is not in a position where his tactical brilliance could be a potential hindrance to his advancement. As a Commander in the Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet, though, Mitth'raw'nuruodo finds himself in a much more precarious position, for all he wishes to do is to protect his people - even against threats that the Chiss themselves would not yet be willing to attempt to counter, due to the absence of an outright attack against the Chiss Ascendancy - and he is finding, more and more often, that he cannot quite bring himself to ignore the fact that sometimes preemptive strikes (a notion absolutely forbidden by the Chiss code of honor) can be far more strategically sound and effective, from a purely tactical point of view.

Mitth'raw'nuruodo's instincts tell him that the owner and the first mate of the Bargain Hunter are not bad people, and that they do not consciously mean him or his people any harm. His instincts also tell him that Jorj Car'das is a truly good person who might even one day become a great person, if only presented with the proper motivation and an actual chance by which to prove himself. And the same instincts that have preserved his life thus far and helped him advance into the position of Crahsystor tell him, too, that, while the Neimoidian Vicelord Kav has no true concept of personal honor (as either the Chiss or the humans of this so-called Galactic Republic seem to account it) and is both a conscienceless coward and a greedy bully, it is this Commander Stratis (who is, or so Mitth'raw'nuruodo would judge, going by the man's deliberately nondescript appearance, surely answering to an alias in that name) who is the true danger here. And those self-same instincts are screaming at him now that the man is not only a danger to him, personally, and to the Chiss Ascendancy, but to Car'das' people at well. He just cannot quite see the pattern clearly enough yet to judge where the source of that danger springs from. . . though he has a fairly good idea that it will end up involving these Jedi and Sith whom Car'das (as well as Stratis, though it does not take a mind of extraordinary intellect to see that this Stratis is the only one of the two men who is deliberately seeking to mislead him) has been telling him about. He wishes he had access to the man's private quarters. It might be possible to learn much more of his character, simply by observing the items with which he surrounds himself. But he does not quite trust himself to be able to correctly interpret any truly foreign objects he might find without those quarters without some input from Car'das, and to request the young man's aid in this would be to invalidate the hardship he has asked the K'rell'n to weather, for the sake of establishing a plausible reason for his men to give, regarding Mitth'raw'nuruodo's decision to keep Car'das and his two colleagues within Chiss space, should Admiral Ar'alani find it necessary to investigate the matter. And he will not do that to Car'das. Not for so little purpose.

The existence of these droids, so clearly made for one purpose only - to place pressure upon others and even to make war upon them without having to risk many of one's own flesh and blood - disturbs him a great deal, though. They were not overly effective here, but he knows his own abilities well enough to know that it is not flattery or self-conceit to think that, against another Commander or even an Admiral with a larger fleet, the droids would have stood a much better chance and been able to inflict much more damage against his people. He is a Crahsystor at such a tender age specifically because he has earned and more than earned his position, mostly through practical applications of his tactical genius. He has never lost a battle in his life. He has never even come close to losing a battle. It was his team of personal guards that rescued Admiral Ar'alani's fleet, the last time a threat from outside Chiss space revealed itself. They waited, that time, for the trespassers to take action, and nearly paid for it with their lives and what could have been the blood of countless victims among the Chiss, if he had not decided to show up early for his assignment with the Defense Fleet and ended up breaking that particular monster's back for the good Admiral before the attack force could completely overwhelm her fleet and continue on into Chiss space proper. The aggressors had fled both the field of battle and Chiss space as well as its immediate environs. And they had fled in the general direction of the Vagaari, which is precisely why Crahsystor Mitth'raw'nuruodo and Picket Force Two had been where they were when the/ Bargain Hunter/ had accidentally fled into the outskirts of Chiss space and when this Trade Federation supposed Special Task Force One had come blundering past yet another border of Chiss space.

The angles of their trajectories into Chiss space are both too similar and too far apart to suggest complicity between the crew of the Bargain Hunter and the Trade Federation task force, even were his instincts not telling him that the two crews and missions have nothing in common. The crew of the Bargain Hunter clearly had never heard of the Vagaari before and were repulsed by what they had learned of the nomadic, piratical race. This Trade Federation, though . . . if they thought that they could get away with using and then disposing of the Vagaari - or even just of arriving at an arrangement of mutual use with the Vagaari - they would strike a deal in an instant and not care of lives they would be ruining or even ending altogether, because of such an unholy alliance. If Stratis' true master were to order him to arrange such a thing, he would sacrifice his Neimoidian ally in a heartbeat in order to accomplish just this. It makes Mitth'raw'nuruodo very, very curious about these Jedi who are supposedly on and (though this may not be true, as Stratis is the only source for the information and the man is hardly trustworthy) running this Outbound Flight Project . . . and even more curious as to what it is about this particular mission that has Stratis' master so terrified that he (or she. Though Mitth'raw'nuruodo rather suspects it is a man, given Stratis' behavior) would be willing to risk so much just to destroy a mere handful of Jedi. Even if Stratis' true master is one of these mysterious Sith Lords Car'das has spoken of, it seems improbable to Mitth'raw'nuruodo that a Sith would squander such resources for so little gain. Unless, of course, the Sith knows something that the Jedi and government of the Galactic Republic do not. Something rather troubling, perhaps, about the current residents of one of the areas that the Outbound Flight Project is meant to pass through, on its way out of the galaxy . . . ?

The problem with such speculations is that they are just that - speculations. He simply doesn't have enough information to support a viable conclusion yet. And, given the seriousness of the nature of the potential enemies to the Chiss people that any such conclusion might very well involve, Mitth'raw'nuruodo can't very well just rely upon his instincts to guide him in this matter, reliable though they have been before now. No. Far too much is at stake here. It's not just his own people and the sentient beings of the nearby star systems whose lives may very well be on the line, now. It's the myriad sentient beings of Car'das' Galactic Republic (including these mysterious Jedi) as well. And, from what he understands, the numbers of those beings truly are all but unimaginably vast. If even a tenth of those beings are like Car'das, then they deserve his protection just as much as the potential victims of the Vagaari do. And if that is so, then it is his duty, as well, to at least try to save this Outbound Flight Project and its people from the treachery of Stratis' master. To do any less would be dishonorable, most especially considering the fact that Car'das has become not only an honored guest and teacher, but a willing and eager ally, as well. So. All that remains, then, is to speak to Car'das and learn more - learn enough to piece together this puzzle and arrive at a solution that is based on knowledge and not speculation. That is what he must do, and that is all there is to it. His personal code of honor may not be entirely of a piece with the code of honor preached by the Chiss Ascendancy, but it is his own and he has always striven to remain true to it. To do otherwise would be to pretend to be other than who and what he is. And that Mitth'raw'nuruodo simply will not do. Not even for the sake of his family's comfort will he abandon his own understanding of duty.

To do so would be dishonorable indeed, in every sense of the word.

***

Car'das has been sitting alone at the computer desk in his /Springhawk /quarters for three hours, struggling through pages and pages of technical Cheunh text and scans, when Thrawn finally arrives.

"My apologies for my long absence," the Commander immediately says as the door slides shut behind him. "I trust you've kept yourself occupied?"

"I've been studying the tech teams' reports as you requested," Car'das replies a little stiffly, turning back to the computer. He knows he's being at least a little bit rude, but he isn't exactly in the most hospitable of moods at the moment and finds it hard to care. The claims put forth by Commander Stratis aboard the Trade Federation vessel about the dangerousness of the Jedi had struck him as utterly preposterous, and Car'das had been expecting a chance to address that when they had left the meeting, not being sent back to his quarters and told to study until Thrawn could make time for him. The feeling of being excluded hurts him more than he would have expected, and that, on top of everything else, has succeeded in putting him in a foul mood.

Thrawn, seemingly not noticing the rudeness, simply patiently asks, "And?"

"And what?" Car'das only asks back, not giving a millimeter.

"Your assessment of the Trade Federation's capabilities?" Thrawn asks in return, his voice and manner just as patient and calm as ever.

Car'das sighs, feeling like a ship with a misfiring gyro. Right before the battle, Thrawn had accused him of lying about widespread Republic slavery, completely out of the blue; and then, right after the battle, he'd accused him of being a spy for the Trade Federation, albeit after warning him that he might have to do so first (a warning that, Car'das has since noticed, hadn't exactly included an assurance that Thrawn himself doesn't believe Car'das and his companions to be spies or advanced agents of an invasion force, which has bruised his already hurt feelings even further and, in turn, only added to Car'das' bad mood. The realization that he's grown close enough to the Chiss Commander to feel truly hurt even at the notion of perhaps being thought of as less than trustworthy both angers him immensely - as he'd apparently foolishly thought, up until then, that he knew better than to allow /anyone/, much less a potential captor, to get that close to him - and him frightens a great deal, which of course only makes him even angrier. It's been a long time since he's felt quite so defenseless or vulnerable, and the overall sensation of helplessness doesn't sit well with Car'das at all). And now Thrawn apparently wants a military assessment from him and expects Car'das to just be able to give it to him, irregardless of both his lack of practical experience in essentially all things military and the very real doubt that Thrawn had given voice to about Car'das' honesty regarding the Republic as a whole (which technically includes the Trade Federation). "Those droid starfighters are top-line weapons," he finally replies, unable to keep himself from growling the response. "I read a report a few months ago speculating that the only reason they didn't completely wipe out their attackers at Naboo was that having to control all those ground troops at the same time overloaded the computer systems and made the starfighter control more sluggish than it should have been. Here, they weren't running any ground troops. In my humble and admittedly limited civilian's opinion, if you hadn't knocked out their communications the way you did, they'd have cut us to ribbons."

"Agreed," Thrawn merely nods gravely in reply. "Fortunately, Expansionary Fleet vessels are equipped with more powerful transmitters than those of the regular Defense Fleet forces, since we seldom have a normal colony system's network of boosters and repeaters to draw on. What about Vicelord Kav and Commander Stratis personally?"

"Why are you even asking me this?" Car'das finally demands, giving up and swiveling around angrily to face the Chiss Commander. "I thought you didn't trust me."

Thrawn shakes his head, for once startled enough that he can't keep the emotion off of his face. "Not at all," he immediately insists. "If you and your companions were spies, you'd have used your access to the base's computer to study our technology and learn the locations of our worlds. Instead, you've merely worked on improving your language skills. May I sit down?"

Car'das stares at Thrawn for few heartbeats, shocked by the sudden display of obvious (well. Obvious for Thrawn, in any case) emotion, before finally exclaiming, "Yes, of course!" Scrambling out of his chair, he extends a hand to the Commander, who he finally realizes is ever so slightly unsteady on his feet. (Preoccupied as he's been with his own uncertainty and bruised pride, he just hadn't immediately noticed the utter weariness in Thrawn's face and posture, a fact that immediately makes him feel both self-centered and incredibly small.) "Are you all right?" he asks, concerned and thoroughly upset with himself for not noticing Thrawn's state earlier. They nearly lost the Chiss Commander in the battle against the Vagaari, barely five weeks previously, and Thrawn hasn't exactly been taking it easy since then. The Commander is likely running on the ragged edge of exhaustion, and the absolute last thing Car'das either wants or needs is for Thrawn to collapse on him or, stars forfend, strain the wounds that came so frightfully close to claiming his life (which likely haven't healed entirely yet, now that he thinks about it).

"I'm fine," Thrawn assures Car'das, his voice tired enough to be less than reassuring as he waves off the proffered hand and steps over to the bunk, sinking down onto it with evident relief. "It's simply been a very long day."

"You look more than just tired," Car'das worriedly insists, peering down at him in an anxious attempt to gauge the Commander's health. "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing serious," Thrawn only insists in turn. Then, tiredly, he admits, "I just received word that Admiral Ar'alani is on her way back."

Car'das frowns at that, now thoroughly worried. It's been only a little bit over five weeks since Ar'alani took the captured freighter away with her, after all. And while she hadn't seemed entirely set against Thrawn's interest in the crew of the Bargain Hunter (at least not as obviously as that other Chiss, who'd refused to even speak with them), neither had she proven to be very concerned with upholding his arrangement with them, regarding the Vagaari plunder. "They're finished studying the Vagaari ship already?" he asks, oddly certain that this is not the case but nevertheless hoping that it's only that and not something else that's bringing her back to the base.

"I believe she's cut short her role in the examination," Thrawn admits with a bit of a sigh, completely dashing that hope. "That was why I made a point of accusing you of espionage in front of my warriors. After today's events she will undoubtedly be questioning them, and, as I said, I wished to have a plausible reason on record as to why you and the others were still in Chiss space. My apologies for any distress that may have caused you."

"Don't worry about it," Car'das absentmindedly insists, his frown deepening a little as he waves off the apology in lieu of his own concern about Thrawn. Stepping a little bit closer, he tries to decides whether it's just his imagination or if the Commander's rich blue skin actually has a bit of a grayish cast to it now - and, if it isn't his mind playing tricks on him, what that must mean about how badly Thrawn is actually hurting, for it to be affecting his appearance so profoundly. A part of his mind realizes that he's hovering over the Chiss like a nursemaid, but the rest of him is too concerned to care what it must look like (or even what Thrawn must think of him, for being so obvious in his worry). Trying to figure out how much of Thrawn's distress might've been caused by simple stress and how much of the blame for the Commander's evident exhaustion has been triggered by actual wear and tear on his body, from the wounds he recently suffered, he asks, "You think Ar'alani's suspicious of you?" attempting, thus, both to figure out just how worried Thrawn might be about Ar'alani's visit and to get a better idea, himself, as to what they're going to be up against when they return to the base.

"I have no doubt," Thrawn simply replies with weary resignation. "Particularly given the reports she's been receiving from Crustai."

"But who at your base would have - " Car'das breaks off as a horrible thought suddenly occurs to him. "Thrass? Your brother?"

"Who else would have felt it necessary to keep her informed?"

"Are you saying your own brother is trying to sink you?" Car'das incredulously demands, still not believing it.

"My brother cares deeply about his blood family, including me," Thrawn explains, his far too tired voice tinged with so much sadness that Car'das has to stop himself from reaching out and placing a comforting hand on the Commander's shoulder. "But he's disturbed by what he sees as my self-destructive behavior . . . and as a Syndic of the Eighth Ruling Family, his duty is to protect that family's honor and position."

"So he calls an admiral down on you?" Car'das indignantly demands, suddenly possessed of a violent urge to see Syndic Thrass, so that he can belt him one and knock him to the deck, for the added stress and pain his actions have caused his younger brother.

"If Admiral Ar'alani is here to reverse my orders, I'll be unable to do anything that will lead to further trouble," Thrawn quietly points out. "Or so he reasons. With a single course of action, he thus protects both me and the Eighth Family."

Car'das thinks about the one Vagaari attack they've witnessed, remembering all too well the sight of the beings pinned helplessly under fire in their hull bubbles. All but sick with fury, he points out, "And meanwhile, people like the Vagaari will be free to go their way."

"Indeed." Thrawn bows his head wearily and presses the palm of his hand against his forehead, for once so distressed that his normal calm reserve fails him utterly. After only a few moments of pained silence, though, he gathers himself back together enough to quietly note, "Still, until the admiral arrives, command remains mine. What's your impression of Vicelord Kav and Commander Stratis?"

With an effort, Car'das drags his mind away from the images of the Vagaari's living shields and back to the figure before him. Plainly worried, anguished, and exhausted though Thrawn may be, he is, nevertheless, still quietly determined to do the right thing. And for his sake, Car'das reins in his anger enough to unclench his fisted hands, sit back down (after pulling his chair a little bit closer to the bunk), and declare, "For starters, I don't think Stratis is really in command. I just can't see the Neimoidians handing their own ships over to a human that way."

"Unless the human is somehow higher in authority than they are," Thrawn points out, voice and posture both steadying slightly, as though Car'das' observation has given him both a reason and the strength to regain his focus. "Or if the human is an agent for such a person. Stratis itself is of course an assumed name."

"Could be," Car'das agrees with a nod. "I do think that they're telling the truth about not being an invasion force, though. Even if their storage rings are packed to the shock webbing with battle droids, they can't possibly have enough for a planetary occupation."

"Then you conclude that their mission is indeed to ambush this /Outbound Flight/?"

"I might, if I knew what /Outbound Flight /really is," Car'das replies with a shrug. "But I've never heard of it, and I don't necessarily trust Stratis' information, much less his opinions."

Thrawn nods in understanding. "Perhaps Qennto or Ferasi will have more information."

"Maybe," Car'das replies, not bothering to hide his uncertainty so that the Commander will know not to get his hopes up about that. "We're heading back to Crustai, then?"

"I need to be there to welcome Admiral Ar'alani," is Thrawn's wearily resigned response. "My people here can finish the examination without us."

"What if Kav and Stratis decide to kill all of them and make a run for it?"

"They won't," Thrawn assures him, his certainty making Car'das blink in surprise. "First of all, they can't simply jump to hyperspace, no matter how much the Vicelord might like to. Not with the Whirlwind pinning them in place."

After a heartbeat of confused silence, Car'das realizes what Thrawn must be referring to. "Ah-/ha/," he then says, as noncommittally as possible, his face warming with embarrassment. With everything else that's already happened, he's managed to complete forget about the cruiser Thrawn sent off to the side before the battle began. Apparently, the Chiss techs have figured out a way to tuck the Vagaari gravity well projector inside a ship's hull.

"But even if they could escape, I don't think they would," Thrawn adds, gaze unfocusing slightly. "Stratis very much wants me to destroy Outbound Flight for him."

Car'das can feel his eyes widen in shock. "Is that where this is going?"

"What did you think all that talk of weaponry and dangerous Jedi was all about?" Thrawn counters, one dark eyebrow raising slightly in polite inquiry.

"I just - I mean, I thought he was trying to get you to let them go," Car'das says, stumbling over his own tongue. "You aren't thinking - ? I mean, sure, the Jedi are powerful, but they're guardians of peace, not power-hungry despots looking to conquer more space or bring other beings under their rule. No matter what Stratis says, the Jedi just aren't dangerous to the Chiss in that way. They don't even rule at all. They're not even a proper part of the government, really, though they work with the Judicials when they need to. Their Order teaches the Jedi that it's their duty to obey the will of the Republic and to protect peace and democracy in the galaxy. And the Jedi keep that peace by enforcing the laws that the Galactic Senate and the governments of the member bodies of the Republic make, not by making up arbitrary rules and forcing people to follow them. They can't even do their own job properly anymore, part of the time, because the Senate refuses to let them and they either can't or won't go against the orders or the limitations given to them by the Senate and Supreme Chancellor. They're good people, Commander. They can do incredible things, because of their connection with the Force, but they give up a lot of things that normal folks take for granted to learn how to control those powers, and they're sworn to uphold justice. Jedi practice infinite compassion and unremitting justness. That's what they're known for. Not for being dangerous troublemakers. Sure, some of them may be more personable than others, but I'm sure the same thing holds true among the Chiss, too, just like it would for any other group of dedicated warrior-protectors. The Jedi are honorable beings, Commander. You actually remind me of what I know of them, in a lot of ways. If anything, I think the Jedi would be natural allies of the Chiss - especially in a situation like the one with the Vagaari - not a danger to you or your people. You can't trust what Stratis has said about them. He's with the Trade Federation, for pity's sake! They have a grudge against the Jedi that's lightyears long and parsecs wide for the way the Jedi helped the Nabooians and Gungans take back their planet from Viceroy Gunray and his droid armies. It's entirely possible their whole task force came out here just because they found out there was going to be Jedi passing through the area and they thought it would be a safe way for them to get some revenge against the Order for the loss of Naboo," Car'das explains, not bothering to hide either his own disgust at Stratis' lies or with the Trade Federation as a whole and once again blithely unaware of the proud look of undeniable pleasure being directed at him for his statements by a certain watchful Force spirit.

"I will certainly take everything that you have said into consideration, Car'das. But you must know that I will do whatever is necessary to protect those who depend on me," Thrawn replies, his voice carefully precise. "No more. And no less. Regardless even of what they might wish for me to do." Face carefully blank, he then stands up. "But that isn't your concern." Then, with a slight nod of acknowledgment, he adds, with the kind of exquisitely careful politeness that is one of his hallmarks, "Once again, I thank you for your assistance."

"No problem," Car'das replies, immediately standing back up as well. He can't quite tell if it's his imagination or if the Commander actually staggers slightly as he gets back to his feet, but just the fact that Thrawn looks bad enough for him to be able to see his exhaustion so plainly has got to be a bad sign, considering how much emphasis the Chiss seem to place upon control. Concerned enough not to care if he sounds like a scold, he then adds, "I know I promised to tell you more about the Jedi and the Sith, but it's getting late and I'm pretty sure you haven't slept at all in the past twenty-four hours. You'd better get some rest. It won't be fun for anyone if you collapse from exhaustion before Ar'alani even has a chance to throw you in the brig."

"Thank you for your concern," Thrawn drily replies, the slightest hint of a twitch at the corner of his mouth hinting at an urge to smile. "I'll try not to disappoint her."

Car'das can't decide if the twitch is a good or a bad sign, considering how little he's seen the Commander smile. Concerned, he finally asks, "One last question, if I may," as Thrawn steps to the door. "How were you so sure that those droidekas wouldn't gun us down?"

Thrawn startles him by looking at him blankly for a moment. "Those - ? Oh, the rolling droid fighters," he finally replies, obviously seeking to clarifying Car'das' question before venturing an answer. When Car'das only nods agreement, he continues, explaining, "It wasn't difficult. Everything about the bridge design spoke of a people who would never willingly put themselves at more risk than absolutely necessary."

"That's Neimoidians, all right," Car'das agrees, reflexively scowling a little at the thought of such cowardice. Then, curiously, he asks, "You could get that just from the bridge design?"

"Architecture is merely another form of art," Thrawn reminds him with a small gesture of his hand that Car'das has learned to regard as the equivalent of a shrug. "But even without those indications, the triple blast doors we passed through would have told me these Neimoidians are not warriors."

"Which is why they have battle droids to fight for them," Car'das agrees. "But isn't gunning us down exactly what cowards like that would do?"

Thrawn shakes his head. "Vicelord Kav was too close to the line of fire. He would never have ordered the droidekas to attack."

Car'das grimaces, not very surprised either by the Neimoidian's duplicity or by his cowardice. "A bluff."

"Or he was making a point," Thrawn counters with another small hand gesture. "These combat droids are a new concept to me, but one worth careful thought." Then, surprisingly, he actually grimaces, adding, "I sincerely hope the Vagaari haven't visited a world where they might have picked up such weapons."

Car'das stares at him in shocked horror for a few moments at the sheer hideousness of such a thought, absolutely stunned, before his mind starts working again. "They probably haven't," he finally replies. "The Neimoidians keep them pretty close to home."

"We shall see." Thrawn touches the control and the door obediently slides open. "Sleep well, Car'das."

"And you as well."

For several long minutes, then, Car'das simply gazes at the closed door, brow furrowed in thought. Of his two companions, he knows that Maris trusts Thrawn's honor implicitly, even while Qennto just as strongly distrusts his alienness and the fact that he's a military officer. For a long time, Car'das himself has been unsure as to which opinion might be the wiser choice, unable to bring himself to place his trust in someone who could share so little of himself, of his feelings and hopes, with anyone around him and be so apparently effortlessly calmly detached all the time, regardless of the situation or circumstances. He's been hurt a few too many times to be able to trust other people - especially someone as self-contained as Thrawn - easily. The look of absolute anguish and despair on Thrawn's face when he had put his hand to his forehead, though, has tipped some balance in Car'das irrevocably. If Thrawn is unmoving in his determination to do what is right and what is necessary to protect his people, regardless of what it might cost him, then Car'das is now just as equally determined that he'll do what is right in regards to Thrawn, to repay him for the courtesy and knowledge and patronage and protection he has extended towards Car'das. Thrawn may not consider the conundrum of the Jedi who are supposed to be aboard Outbound Flight and heading in the general direction of Chiss space to be Car'das' problem. But that's only because Thrawn is not yet aware of the fact that Car'das now considers himself to be the Commander's man, loyal to him and beholden to him in much the same way that the Chiss warriors under Thrawn's command are. If Thrawn has made a decision regarding Car'das, then Car'das has made a decision about Thrawn, too. And he will be loyal and do whatever is necessary to protect Thrawn and help him achieve his goals, regardless of what Thrawn himself or anyone else might want or expect. Even if it means educating him about the Jedi and their Order in such a way that it will turn him completely against Stratis and the Trade Federation.

Mind made up, Car'das smiles and returns to his bunk. Thrawn's not the only one who's going to need more rest to keep his wits sharpened and about him. And if he lies down now, he should be able to get in a fairly decent nap before they return to the base.

Still smiling, Car'das slips effortlessly into the sleep of the just the moment his head hits the pillow.

Revan Maloch, well pleased with the young man's decision and with the strengthening of character that this decision is already causing, places a weightless hand upon the sleeping man's brow and reaches out into the Force, gathering in power and carefully funneling it into Car'das, helping to restore the reserves of energy that have been burned off in the past several hours. Then, with another fond smile down at the sleeping figure, the Force spirit departs, following after Mitth'raw'nuruodo to make sure that the almost equally young Chiss Commander takes Car'das' advice and gets some rest, even if Revan has to add his own particular brand of silent persuasion to the mix to see that it happens . . .

***

"/Outbound Flight/," Captain Qennto repeats thoughtfully, a little over six hours after Car'das has reached his decision, frowning off into space as he slowly shakes his head. With a shrug, he finally has to admit, "Nope. Never heard of it."

"Me, neither," Maris seconds. "And you say this Kav and Stratis want to destroy it?"

"Kav and whoever," Car'das replies with a shrug. "Thrawn thinks Stratis is an alias, some kind of cover for the power responsible for making a Trade Federation task force obey orders from a human. Which makes a lot of sense to me, considering what I've heard and what I know about Neimoidians and the Trade Federation."

"Fine, then; Kav and Master No One," Qennto snaps impatiently, rolling his eyes. "So why do they want to destroy it?"

Car'das can only shrug again, helplessly, in response. "Stratis spun a big loop pastry about how dangerous the Jedi are and how they want to take over and make everyone to do things their way. But that /has /to be a lie. Some of the Senate's corrupt, sure, but you can't corrupt a Jedi. That's common knowledge. They're just too thoroughly indoctrinated in self-sacrifice and upholding the greater good and obedience to the leaders of the Republic. Jedi are the good guys, for pity's sake! They're honorable people - probably the only really entirely honorable group of people that's left in the galaxy, or at least in our end of it!"

There's an awkward silence in the wake of Car'das impassioned words, and then, in a surprisingly gentle voice, Qennto responds by pointing out, "Which is why what Stratis says isn't necessarily wrong, kid. A lot of people out there are starting to wonder about the Jedi."

"Whether they mean to or not, they're helping to prop up the Coruscant bureaucracy," Maris adds with a small, regretful sigh. "Anyone who wants genuine government reform will have to persuade the Jedi to change sides."

"Or else kill them," Qennto adds, an oddly stricken look on his face, as though he doesn't like what he's saying but feels constrained to point it out, nevertheless.

Maris shivers, looking sick. "I can't believe it would ever come to that. Car'das is right: the Jedi are guardians of peace and democracy in the galaxy - or at least in the Republic. I can't believe the Jedi would let things get so bad that it would come to outright revolution. It's greedy and power-hungry organizations like the Trade Federation and the InterGalactic Banking Clan and the Commerce Guild and the Corporate Alliance and even the Techno Union that's causing most of the problems. Almost all of the graft and corruption in the Senate can be traced back to the seemingly bottomless purses of one or another of those organizations. They're the/ real/ real troublemakers. Not the Jedi. And the Jedi seem to know it, too, or else they wouldn't have fought so hard to free Naboo from the Trade Federation. Someone just needs to persuade them that they're going to have to move against some of their nominal masters in the government if they want to continue to support the greater galactic good, is all. There are already Jedi who're working towards pretty much the same end, doing everything in their power to bring the illegal activities of organizations like the Trade Federation to light in such a way that their treachery and the corruption they've spread among the Senate can no longer be denied or ignored. The two surviving Jedi from the Naboo incident - the Sith-Killer, Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi, and his Padawan learner, Anakin Skywalker - number among them, from what I've heard. One of my mother's half-sisters married a trader who settled on Naboo. She has a son who works in their Royal Security, and he's spoken of several long holocomm conversations between Bendu Knight Kenobi and Queen Amidala regarding efforts to bring charges against Viceroy Gunray and his lackeys. Did Stratis say anything about which Jedi were aboard this /Outbound Flight/, Car'das? If you ask me, the Trade Federation's purpose in being here might be simple revenge, if those two are among the Jedi on board."

"Stratis didn't mention specific Jedi, no, but I have a hard time believing the Jedi Order would send two of its most famous members on an extragalactic mission," Car'das answers, frowning thoughtfully. "Do you think they might be hoping to damage the overall reputation of the Jedi Order, by causing the mission to fail?"

"Wouldn't that make more sense if the mission was high-profile?" Maris only asks back. "We'd have heard about it if it were, Car'das. They must've held this one close to the chest. I bet the Senate didn't want to risk a backlash if anything went wrong, like with what happened to the Katana fleet," she then adds, eyes narrowing slightly.

"I can't imagine anything short of an entire fleet would be able to derail the mission, though. Unless Stratis was lying about the size of the Outbound Flight Project, too, that is. I have a hard time believing even the Trade Federation's task force would've been able to stop them," is Car'das' plainly confused response. "If they wanted revenge against the Jedi, shouldn't the Trade Federation have sent a larger force to deal with Outbound Flight and attacked them before they left known space, so word of the mission's destruction and the failure of the Jedi aboard to protect it would reach Coruscant fairly quickly afterwards?"

"Too risky," Qennto immediately opinions. "If anyone happened to survive or witness the attack, word might've also gotten back that it was a Trade Federation task force with Techno Union ships that did the destroying. And the deaths of all the passengers who're just innocent colonists might look bad enough that it would turn public opinion against the organizations responsible for those deaths enough to force the Senate to allow some other Jedi to go after proof of their wrongdoing."

"What about the size of this task force, though?" Car'das only presses. "Lucrehulk/-class battleships are big, I know, but there were only two of them in this Special Task Force One. It had other ships, too, of course, but /Outbound Flight is supposedly made up of six Dreadnaughts of some kind. You ever hear of them?"

"Yeah, they're Rendili StarDrive's latest gift to the militarily obsessed," Qennto replies, nodding even while he makes a face at the thought of the Dreadnaughts. (Unsurprisingly, given his chosen occupation, Captain Qennto isn't very comfortable with the idea of military force. It's one of the main reasons why he's so wary of the extremely militarily savvy Thrawn and the Chiss people as a whole.) "Heavy cruisers, six hundred meters long, with heavy shields and a whole bunch of upgraded turbolaser cannons, most of them clustered in four midline bubbles where they can deliver a terrific broadside volley. Normal crew runs around sixteen thousand, with room for another two or three thousand troops. I hear the Corporate Sector's been buying them up like Transland Day souvenirs, and some of the bigger Core Worlds aren't far behind," he elaborates, shaking his head disgustedly.

"Has Coruscant been doing any of the buying?" Maris asks, frowning anxiously.

Qennto shrugs elaborately before admitting, "There's been talk lately about the Republic finally getting its own army and a genuine battle fleet. But you know as well as I do that they've been talking that way in the Senate for years, even since before the whole Naboo debacle, and nothing's ever come of it."

"So with six Dreadnaughts, we're talking up to a hundred thousand people aboard /Outbound Flight/?" Car'das asks, a sick feeling gathering in the pit of his stomach.

"Probably no more than half that," Qennto merely airily notes with a careless wave of his hand. "A lot of the standard jobs would be duplicated among the ships. Besides that, you want to build in extra elbow room on a long-term colony ship."

"That's still a lot of people to kill if all they want is to get at a few Jedi," Maris points out, looking as sick as Car'das feels.

"Don't worry, I'm sure your noble-minded Commander Thrawn won't fall for it," Qennto replies irritably, sourly rolling his eyes.

"But even if Thrawn doesn't cooperate, Stratis still has an intact Trade Federation battleship on hand," Car'das reminds them. "That's a lot of firepower, and they might have more of them on the way. This was just Special Task Force One/, remember? For all we know, there could be a Special Task Force /Two out there somewhere, waiting to hear back from Stratis and Kav and getting more and more anxious by the minute while they fail to report."

"So what do we do?" Maris demands, almost wringing her hands, such is her concern.

"We do nothing," Qennto immediately replies, his voice firm and flatly determined. "It's not our job to look out for this /Outbound Flight/."

"But we can't just sit here and do nothing!" Maris cries out in protest.

"No, we can run like scalded hawk-bats," Qennto instantly retorts. "And I'm thinking this would be a real good time to do just that."

"But - "

"Maris," Qennto injects, cutting her off with an uplifted hand. "It's not /our problem. You hear me? It's /not our problem/. If the Jedi are going to go flying off into the Unknown Regions, it's up to /them to figure out how to protect themselves. It's up to us to figure out how to get ourselves out of here in one piece with enough loot to keep our customers from killing us for being over two and a half standard months late in delivering their goods. That is, if you think you can drag yourself away from all this nobility and culture," he adds with bitter venom, Maris' increasingly obvious fascination with Thrawn due to his apparent sophistication and the high moral code and code of conduct he practices being the other major reason why Qennto doesn't particularly like or trust either the Chiss Commander or the Chiss people.

"That's not /fair/," Maris almost snarls in protest, hands knotting into fists, her eyes hard with fury even as a touch of pink colors her cheeks embarrassedly.

"Whatever." Qennto abruptly turns back to Car'das. "You're his confidant these days, kid. You think you can sweet-talk him into letting us have that Vagaari loot his brother locked away?" He jerks a thumb suggestively at Maris. "Or should I ask Maris to do it?"

"Rak - " Maris begins, this time actually growling her anger.

"I don't think sweet talk is going to be the issue," Car'das hastily cuts in, alarmed at the way the tension between Qennto and Maris is already starting to drift into the red zone. "He can't give it to us unless his brother and Admiral Ar'alani both let him."

"So how do we get Ar'alani back here?" Maris asks, biting off each word as if she were biting off Qennto's head with each carefully precise syllable.

"We don't have to," Car'das replies, grimly glancing at his chrono. "As a matter of fact, Thrawn's probably welcoming her onto the base right now."

"But that's great!" Qennto declares, instantly brightening. "That means we can get our hearing, get our loot, and get out of here."

"I don't think so," Car'das sighs, wincing over the explosion he's sure will be coming soon. "She's here to see whether or not Thrawn should be relieved of command."

There's a moment of stunned silence. But then, instead of a furious barrage of curses and insults from Qennto, Maris finally declares, voice hollow with shock, "That's insane/. He's a /good commander. He's a good /man/."

"And when did either of those ever matter?" Qennto mutters, shaking his head cynically. "Oh, boy. And she was already dead set against giving us the Vagaari stuff. This is not good."

"Can't you for one minute forget about your loot?" Maris snaps at him crossly, frustrated enough that she nearly shouts the words. "This is Thrawn's career and life we're talking about."

"No, I can't forget about the loot," Qennto counters, face and voice suddenly hard. "In case you've forgotten, sweetheart, we're already two and a half months late getting Drixo her furs and firegems. The only thing that's going to keep us alive when we finally show up is if we have something extra to calm her down with."

Maris grimaces as though she's tasted something awful. But then, "I know," she finally murmurs softly, shoulders slumping in defeat.

"So what do we do?" Car'das asks after several long awkward beats of silence.

"What you're going to do is convince them to hand it over," Qennto replies. "And don't ask how," he adds, raising a hand forbiddingly even as Car'das opens his mouth to try to protest. "Beg, cajole, bribe - whatever it takes."

"You're the only one who can do it," Maris agrees soberly, her enormous dark eyes sad. "Anytime Rak or I even step outside our quarters, we have an escort following us around."

Car'das sighs, resisting the urge to massage his temples. "I'll do what I can."

"And don't forget this is a limited-time window," Qennto commands warningly. "Right now, we have at least half an ally in Thrawn. If he gets the boot, we won't have even that much."

Briefly, Car'das wonders what they would say if he told them that Thrawn had publicly accused all three of them of espionage and that even if he could, by some miracle, find a way to convince both Syndic Thrass and Admiral Ar'alani to just ignore that possibility and let them go, with the Bargain Hunter filled to the brim with stolen Vagaari treasure, he wouldn't be leaving with them. But there's no point in worrying them any more than they already are. "I'll do what I can," he finally simply says again, getting to his feet. "I'll see you later."

Again resisting the urge to rub his forehead in hopes of driving away the ache growing there, Car'das leaves their quarters and starts down the corridor. Ar'alani's welcoming ceremony is probably over, but she and Thrawn are most likely still together and probably talking about Thrass' accusations. Ar'alani hadn't struck him as the sort who would waste any more time with ceremonial niceties than necessary. Maybe he'd be able to leave word with one of Thrawn's officers that he would like to see the Commander at his earliest convenience . . .

"So you do have free run of the base."

Car'das is so thoroughly wrapped up in his own thoughts that he startles at the sound of another voice, flinching as if at a sudden, unexpected blow. Turning, he sees the familiar form of Syndic Thrass, Commander Thrawn's older brother, coming up behind him, his expression giving no hint as to what's going on behind his glowing red eyes. "Syndic Mitth'ras'safis," Car'das greets him, fighting to get his brain online again. "Forgive my surprise; I assumed you'd be with your brother and the Admiral."

Thrass - an ever so slightly taller and leaner Chiss than Crahsystor Mitth'raw'nuruodo, though with facial features so similar to those of his younger brother (by just barely under three standard years, though Car'das has no way of knowing that) that he could have been mistaken for Thrawn, if only someone could have convinced him to exchange his short robe and tall boots with their patchwork pattern of gray and burgundy with one of the black uniforms with large burgundy shoulder patches and elaborately tooled pair of silver bars on the high collar that Thrawn, as Commander of Picket Force Two, always wears - merely inclines his head. He then stares hard at Car'das for a few uncomfortable moments, as though searching for something, before abruptly saying, "Come with me, please." Thrass then turns back around and strides off down the corridor without even so much as turning his head to see if Car'das is obeying his demand (worded though it may seem to be as a request, the tone of command in his voice is unmistakable). After a moment of startled hesitation, Car'das sighs again and gives in. With his pulse pounding unpleasantly in his throat, he follows the Syndic, unable to think of anything else that he can do. For his part, Thrass silently leads the way to the upper level of the base, where Thrawn and the senior officers have their quarters. They pass a few warriors along the way, none of whom gives either the Syndic or the human so much as a single curious glance, before finally arriving at a door marked with Cheunh symbols that Car'das can't quite decipher. "In here," Thrass then orders, opening the door and gesturing inside. Bracing himself, Car'das steps past him into the room.

He finds himself in a small conference room with half a dozen computer-equipped chairs arranged in a circle around a central hologrammic display. Seated on the far side of the circle, resplendent in her dazzlingly white uniform, is Admiral Ar'alani. "Be seated, Car'das," she says in Cheunh as Thrass steps into the room behind him.

"Thank you, Admiral," Car'das replies in the same language as he takes the seat directly across from her. "Welcome back."

She nods in polite acknowledgment, studying him thoughtfully as Thrass sits down in the chair to her right. "Your proficiency in Cheunh has improved," she finally quietly notes. The movement of her head is more like a small bow when she then politely adds, "My compliments."

"Thank you," Car'das says again, unsure what else he can say and feeling more than a little bit off-balance at her quiet graciousness. "It's a beautiful language to listen to. I only regret that I'll never speak it as well as a Chiss."

"No, you won't," Ar'alani agrees, her voice so calmly matter of fact that it is impossible to take offense at her words. "I understand you were with Commander Mitth'raw'nuruodo on this latest military venture. Tell us what happened."

Car'das glances nervously at Thrass before turning his attention back to Ar'alani. In spite of Thrawn's calmly reasoned explanation for Thrass' behavior, Car'das can't help but think of the Syndic as a bit of a traitor for essentially ratting his brother out to the Admiral, and it makes his skin crawl ever so slightly to be in the same room with him. Thus, despite Ar'alani's higher rank, Car'das can't help but feel more wary of Thrass' presence in the room, especially for such an interview. "Forgive my impertinence, but shouldn't you ask Commander Mitth'raw'nuruodo about this instead of me?" he finally asks back, as politely as he can and as firmly as he dares.

"We will," is Ar'alani's less than reassuring response, her voice and mien both darkening slightly. "Right now, though, we're asking /you/. Tell us about this latest act of aggression."

Car'das forces himself to take a deep, steadying breath and resist the urge to double his hands over into affronted fists. "First of all, it wasn't really an act of aggression," he finally replies, picking his words carefully. "It was an expedition to investigate unknown warships that had been reported in the area."

"Vessels that wouldn't have been reported at all if Mitth'raw'nuruodo wasn't already inclined to premature military action," Ar'alani promptly points out.

Beside her, Thrass stirs ever so slightly in his seat. "The Expansionary Fleet's charter does require observation and exploration in the regions around the Chiss Ascendancy," he notes, surprising Car'das with what can only be taken as a defense of Thrawn's actions.

"Observation and exploration," Ar'alani merely immediately (with an almost eerie serenity) counters. "Not unprovoked military action." She lifts her eyebrows questioningly. "Or do you deny military action was taken and Chiss casualties sustained?"

Car'das instantly frowns in confused consternation. Thrawn hadn't mentioned anything about casualties! "I was unaware that any Chiss warriors had been lost."

"The Whirlwind did not return from the battle," Ar'alani replies, her voice and manner suddenly icy.

"Oh," Car'das exhales in relief, immediately breathing a little easier. Of course; the missing cruiser is still at the battle scene, keeping the Darkvenge pinned in place with the Vagaari gravity well projector. But he obviously can't tell Ar'alani that, which does complicate matters somewhat. Finally, after a few heartbeats of silence, he simply declares, "I still maintain that Commander Mitth'raw'nuruodo fought only in self-defense."

"Did the unknown enemy fire first?" Ar'alani only immediately asks, her red eyes narrowing slightly in an obvious display of suspicion.

"The firing of weapons isn't always the first act of aggression," Car'das hedges, once again feeling as if he were walking a narrow board over a deep pit full of gundarks. "The Trade Federation battleships launched a massive force of droid starfighters. I've read reports of battles in which these weapons were used, and if Commander Mitth'raw'nuruodo hadn't acted to neutralize them when he did, his force would quickly have been overwhelmed."

"Perhaps," Ar'alani says, her voice just as suddenly noncommittal and politely bland again. "We'll know better once you've shown us around the battle zone."

Car'das feels his mouth suddenly go dry with horrified shock. "Around the . . . ?"

"You object?" Ar'alani demands, voice sharpening.

"Well, for starters, I don't even know where it is," Car'das replies, stalling for time as he thinks furiously. If Ar'alani were to find the Darkvenge sitting out there . . .

"The location isn't a problem," Ar'alani assures him, holding up a slender cylinder tapered at both ends. "I have the last two months' worth of the Springhawk's navigational data."

Car'das can only fight back a grimace. Terrific. "All right," he finally says. "But shouldn't we check with Commander Mitth'raw'nuruodo first?"

"We're going now precisely because I don't want Commander Mitth'raw'nuruodo to know about it," Ar'alani snaps back. "I've sent him on a security sweep of the nearby systems, which should give us time to examine the battle zone and return." Her red eyes practically glitter with anticipation as she adds, "And only then will we ask for his version of the battle."

***