Force Awakens AU-verse

[grandadmiralartcritic]

There's never enough time to prepare for a war you didn't (quite) know was coming. But given Milliways tends to stop time while a person is in it, Thrawn has taken his datapad full of files, after action reports, and star maps, and made his way into the bar proper.

And given that it is unwise to appear as if one is hiding, he chooses to occupy a table right at the heart of this multiversal cantina.

Caf is welcome, but food is most definitely secondary to absorbing as much information as he can.

Comments

[grandadmiralartcritic]

Thrawn cannot fail to notice Hera's arrival. She, along with a few others, is a face he almost expects to see, on days he comes into Milliways.

It's . . . let's say 'safest'.

He feels her gaze on him, once she's finished whatever business she has with Bar. He gives it a minute, then looks up from his datapad, expression shifting only enough for one raised eyebrow.

If she'd prefer he went back to pretending not to notice her, he's willing.

[for_everyone]

She makes no effort to avoid him any longer. Hera picks up her caf, and approaches his table.

"You've started reading."

[grandadmiralartcritic]

He inclines his head very slightly, moving his own caf out of the way to give Hera more space.

Should she care to use it.

"I have. The civilized galaxy, as ever, seems as if it might be very short on time."

[for_everyone]

Hera watches him move the cup, and then takes a seat across from him.

"I don't know about 'civilized,'" she says.

[grandadmiralartcritic]

"Perhaps I lack the appropriate Basic term, even after all this time."

He sets down the datapad, at least momentarily.

"Knowingly inhabited? Perhaps that is more accurate, but it's a clumsy phrase."

[for_everyone]

Hera glances away again.

"The Empire used to use that word to separate itself from the 'primitive' worlds."

[grandadmiralartcritic]

"Ah."

That does make sense. Perhaps he ought to have considered that before speaking.

"Does this First Order do much the same?"

So far his documentation does not say, and that -- would be a useful thing to know.

[for_everyone]

"Their view of non-humans isn't very different."

Despite that the little that was known about the First Order's leader suggested he wasn't human himself.

[grandadmiralartcritic]

"Not entirely unexpected."

Thrawn doesn't even have the grace to sound weary.

"Is there a timeline for our deployment, yet?"

[for_everyone]

"As soon as possible."

Hera picks up her caf, taking a small sip from it, and then looking back to it. "Or as soon as they figure out how they're comfortable..."

She takes a minute to search for another word, but - "deploying you."

[grandadmiralartcritic]

"Mmm."

He picks up his own caf, swallows, then sets it back down.

"I confess myself unsurprised. Is there anything I ought to know at this time, to focus my preparations?"

[for_everyone]

Hera puts her cup back down, tapping her fingers along it for a few seconds.

"Is there anything you want to know?"

[grandadmiralartcritic]

He hums again, tapping his fingertip against the rim of his cup.

Then --

"Am I likely to be functioning as a solo operative behind enemy lines? It will require a different set of strategies and supplies than being in command of a troop of any size. Or, I suppose, being integrated into an armed force of one kind or another."

Those are the most likely options he can see, but perhaps the Resistance command intends something else for their captive Chiss.

[for_everyone]

Hera shakes her head.

"You're not likely to be operating solo at all."

[grandadmiralartcritic]

"A duo behind enemy lines, then. Or perhaps a trio, if you're training a replacement for yourself at the same time."

It seems possible.

[for_everyone]

"I think they're more interested in front line strategy."

[grandadmiralartcritic]

"The sacrificial sort?"

It would be short-sighted, but long-delayed vengeance might be like that, he supposes. Though Hera Syndulla seems an unlikely party to that type of thing.

[for_everyone]

There's as long pause before she answers.

"The sort you were good at before."

[grandadmiralartcritic]

"Ah."

Again his color pales, doubtless because he's pleased at this revelation.

"I will do what I can to better my previous performance, in that case."

[for_everyone]

Hera doesn't answer.

She looks away, lifting her cup again, and possibly considering how insufferable this is going to be.

[grandadmiralartcritic]

Thrawn drinks his own caf, turning various issues over in his mind.

"Should I be turning my attention to small squadron tactics, or something more expansive?"

[for_everyone]

Hera takes a deep breath, lets it out.

"Maybe you should think about how you'll communicate with your commanding officer."

[grandadmiralartcritic]

In the past, Thrawn has simply done what needed doing, and left the feelings of his commanding officers for them to handle once the work was done.

That . . . worked much better once Governor Pryce was in his corner, and Yularen. Here . . .

He exhales, very quietly.

"Do you have specific instructions? Or preferences, I suppose is the word."

He knows himself well enough not to make promises, even as they would make this working situation a great deal easier. Incarceration did not give him much motivation for working on his political and diplomatic skills.

[for_everyone]

"I need to know what you're doing, and why you're doing it."

This Hera says quickly, before she can hesitate.

[grandadmiralartcritic]

Thrawn steeples his fingers, turning that thought over in his mind, looking at all the angles he can see.

It will, in some ways, not be dissimilar to his behavior with Eli Vanto, but with less of the teaching aspect. He cannot afford to slip, there, as Hera Syndulla (General again? Agent?) is unlikely to appreciate such exercises.

"Both the tactical and strategic implications, as well as the psychological underpinnings that give me confidence in my chosen strategies?"

Why quibble, honestly, when one has the opportunity to be of use?