Star Wars: Thrawn - Chapter 15

1 BBY - "Atollon, the Chimaera"

Onboard the Chimaera, Governor Arihnda Pryce stood at the bridge, seeing the now desecrated Rebel base smoking from the orbital bombardment. The bombardment, initiated by Grand Admiral Thrawn, was largely a success, though it did come at the cost of the Rebels escaping the planet due to a storm that had ripped apart the ground assault below. Just then, the doors to the bridge hissed open, and Pryce turned her head, seeing Thrawn marching towards her, both arms folded behind his back. With every step the Grand Admiral took, Pryce could smell the dust from the battlefield; dust that was also riddled all over Thrawn's uniform, which was otherwise perfectly intact, minus a small tear near his left shoulder. "The orbital bombardment was affective, Grand Admiral..." Pryce began, watching Thrawn walk closer to the bridge. "But the Rebel leadership escaped. Once again, Phoenix Squadron has slipped through our fingers." 

Thrawn stopped at the viewport, right next to Pryce. He did not turn his head, nor did he make eye-contact with her. He simply looked down at the aftermath of the battlefield, his glowing crimson eyes reflecting the swirling debris field on the surface. "A tactical retreat, Governor." Thrawn finally replied. "Facilitated by a variable even I could never have predicted." Pryce nodded her head slowly. "This...    Creature you spoke of in your report..    What was it?" Pryce asked. "Our scanners are still struggling to process the energy readings from that storm. We lost three of our walkers due to electrical currents that simply shouldn't have existed." She added on. Still, Thrawn did not look at her once. "The Bendu..." Thrawn murmured, the name tasting like the very dust that now caked his uniform. "A fascinating creature; one that possessed a primitive, yet potent connection to the environment. A creature that also saw war as the disturbance in it's..    'Balance'." He continued.

"I suppose this battle is proof of such a belief." Pryce remarked. "Because of the interference of this 'Bendu', we were cost the total victory you promised." Finally, Thrawn turned his head, locking eyes with Pryce. "On the contrary, Governor, the Rebel cell is broken." Thrawn declared. "It's base has been reduced to ash, and we have now stripped away their mystery. What remains now is..." He continued, when suddenly, both Thrawn and Pryce both heard a beeping noise from below the bridge. "Admiral, I've just received a message from the Emperor." One of the Imperial Officers below announced. "He requests your presence affective immediately." Thrawn's gaze shifted to the Officer down below. "Acknowledge the Emperor's signal, and inform him that I will be there shortly." Thrawn replied.

1 BBY - "Coruscant, The Imperial Palace"

On Coruscant, Thrawn stood alone in the turbolift heading up to the Emperor's throne room, his uniform now having been rid of the dust of the battle of Atollon. Though the tear on his left shoulder remained, but even then, it was small enough to go unnoticed. Soon, the turbolift doors hissed open, and Thrawn stepped out into the chamber, seeing Emperor Palpatine sitting on his throne at the top of the stairs, a jagged smile etched across his face. However, Thrawn quickly saw that the Emperor was not alone; next to the Emperor's throne, there stood a man almost seven feet tall, clad in dark armor with mechanical breathing that echoed off the walls. "Congratulations on your victory over Atollon, Grand Admiral." Palpatine remarked, his gaze fixated on Thrawn as he approached the armored figure.

"I don't believe you have met Lord Vader...?" Palpatine soon asked. Thrawn stepped just inches away from the armored, who he knew to be Darth Vader, the Emperor's second in command. "No, your majesty. I have not." Thrawn replied, bowing his head, before his gaze shifted towards Vader. "I greet you, Lord Vader. I have heard a great deal about you, and your efforts in toppling the Gentis Regime..." Thrawn began, allowing a gentle smile to come across his face. "I am pleased we have finally met." Vader said nothing back, first looking at Palpatine, then back at Thrawn. "As am I, Grand Admiral." Vader finally said, his mechanical voice booming. Thrawn soon turned his head back to Palpatine. "The Rebels on Atollon have been rid of their base." Thrawn declared. "They were given the chance to flee elsewhere, due to circumstances I was unable to foresee. If you wish, I may continue to hunt them down until they have no planet left to claim as their own."

"That will not be necessary, Admiral." Palpatine replied, his eyes darting to Vader. "As I have just told Lord Vader, I have a new mission for you." He continued. Thrawn's eyes widened with curiosity. "I have sensed a disturbance in the Force. Something that will require both you and Lord Vader to resolve." The Emperor said. "I believe, Admiral, you have heard of a world at the edge of the Unknown Regions called Batuu?" Thrawn nodded. "Yes, your majesty. I have indeed." He replied. "Good. You will now take the Chimaera and locate this disturbance. As for the rest of the Seventh Fleet, it will remain behind to continue the quest for the Rebels that eluded you." The Emperor declared, looking at Vader once again. "Lord Vader, you will accompany the Grand Admiral to this world and deal with the threat I have felt." He continued. Vader bowed his head. "As you wish, my Master." He replied.

1 BBY - "The Chimaera, Thrawn's office"

Back onboard the Chimaera, Thrawn sat in his office chair, looking over a datapad, whilst Vader stood next to him, his breathing making the very walls of the room vibrate. "The Emperor's interest in this world has been noted, Grand Admiral." Vader said. "But he speaks of a 'disturbance' far beyond that of a mere rebellion; a disturbance that you appear to possess knowledge of." He continued. Thrawn set the datapad down on his desk, before looking at Vader. "The Emperor senses a ripple in the Force, Lord Vader. I, however, see the tactical wake of a predator." Thrawn replied, activating the holoprojector on his desk. Vader stared at the holoprojector intently, as he stared at the hologram itself, showing a group of species that appeared to be quite monstrous, all the while dressed in primitive armor of their own making.

"What you see before you is a species that my people, the Chiss, have called 'the Grysk'." Thrawn said. "Another primitive species hiding in the Unknown Regions?" Vader asked. "Hardly." Thrawn replied. "The Grysk do not conquer through simple firepower. Rather, they are nomads of the mind." He continued. "They identify a culture's deepest insecurities and use them to enslave said culture from within. Their origins are shrouded, but we believe they emerged from the other edge of the Unknown Regions, where the laws of physics and navigation become more...     Fluid." Thrawn stood up, his gaze fixated on the hologram. "They do not just take territory; they erase the identities of those they conquer. This is the very reason I sought out the Empire years ago...     So that the Ascendancy can have an ally in quelling this threat."

Before Vader could respond, both he and Thrawn heard a loud bang echo through the walls, followed by an invisible pull that seemed to grab hold of the ship itself. Thrawn quickly grabbed onto his desk, just barely managing to not lose his footing, while Vader used the Force to maintain his own balance. Immediately, the doors hissed open and Commander Karyn Faro rushed inside, a look of panic spread across her face. "What is happening, Commander!?" Thrawn demanded. "Admiral, we've been pulled out of Hyperspace!" Faro shouted. Just then, Thrawn and Vader both heard several loud bangs from afar, causing the Chimaera's alarms to immediately start blaring. The two of them soon followed Faro into the turbolift, heading back up to the bridge. Upon exiting the lift, Thrawn saw it: a ship that appeared to be a living creature, yet was the size of the Chimaera itself, wrapped around it from the underbelly upwards.

"Evasive maneuvers!" Thrawn ordered, his voice remaining calm. However, it was too late. The creature-vessel did not fire any turbolasers; instead, it lunged, sinking it's fleshy appendages right through the hull of the Chimaera with a sickening crack that echoed through the walls of the bridge. Yet again, Thrawn and everyone else onboard almost lost their footing, as they felt one final bang rattle the bridge, cracking the window in front of the Grand Admiral. Thrawn watched, as what appeared to the tail of the craft wrapped itself around the bridge, mimicking the grip of a parasite and smearing the windows in a translucent, leathery membrane. "Structural integrity at sixty-two percent!" Pellaeon shouted over the alarms. "The external entity is leaking a corrosive enzyme into the hull plating. Thermal signatures show multiple signs of life, including that of this vessel!"

Vader turned to Thrawn, his mechanical breath steady. "You spoke of their tactics, Admiral." Vader said. "And yet, you neglected to mention their pets." Thrawn looked at the windows of the bridge, concealed by the tail of the craft, before looking back at Vader. "A regrettable oversight, my Lord." Thrawn admitted, pulling his blaster pistol out from it's holster. "It seems that the Grysk have chosen to skip the instructions." He continued. "Admiral, what even is this vessel!?" Faro demanded. "A Xenolith-class Ravager. One of the Grysk's primary attack vessels." Thrawn replied. "As Captain Pellaeon said, it is not an ordinary vessel, but a living being." At that moment, the hull of the Chimaera rattled uncontrollably, with Thrawn and the others hearing a noise equivalent to that of a heartbeat drumming against the ship. Vader unclipped his Lightsaber from his belt, holding the hilt in his right hand. "If it is a living being, then it must be terminated." Vader declared.

Inside the rest of the Chimaera, a legion of Stormtroopers stand just inches away from the blast doors, the lights of the hallways flickering and the alarms blaring loudly as they prepared to open fire on the enemy. Finally, the blast doors tore open, with a wall of yellowish fog rolling in, smelling of vaporized Durasteel. From the fog emerged the soldiers of the Grysk, their skin gaunt and pale, while their living armor pulsed with bright, orange veins. Beside them ran the Grysk Hounds; eyeless, multi-limbed masses of pure muscle and sharp teeth, bred for the sole purpose of shredding anything that wore armor. One of the Hounds immediately leaped forward, tearing open a Stormtrooper's collarbone with it's teeth. "Open fire!" One of the Stormtroopers yelled. The rest of the squad immediately began shooting at the Grysk, who moved faster than the eye could see, wiping out the entire squad with their Sting-rods, which spat gobs of acidic neurotoxin. 

Across another hallway, Vader and Thrawn stepped out of the malfunctioning turbolift, accompanied by a squad of Death Troopers. Finally, Vader ignited his Lightsaber, right when the Grysks and their Hounds charged him and Thrawn, who opened fire on them, alongside his Death Troopers. A Grysk warrior lunged towards Vader, who parried the Grysk's Sting-rod, before relieving the warrior of his head, and then blasting one of the Grysk Hounds through the wall, instantly destroying it's ribcage. As he gunned down the nearby Grysk Hounds with his blaster pistol, Thrawn took his comlink off his belt, contacting Commander Faro. "Concentrate all fire on the leg joints of the boarding craft!" Thrawn shouted over the alarms. "The craft is biological! It can feel pain!" He continued, watching Vader slice through the Grysk and their Hounds like a flash of crimson light, leaving corpses and severed limbs everywhere in sight.

Thrawn and the Death Troopers rushed to Vader's side, the troopers gunning down any Grysk Hounds attempting to attack Vader from behind, whilst Thrawn kept shooting down as many Grysk as he could, shooting them all in the side of the neck. Yet again, he spoke into the comlink in his hand, this time contacting Captain Pellaeon. "Send a squad of Incinerator Troopers to flush the vents!" Thrawn yelled. "If it breathes, it can easily suffocate!" At that moment, Thrawn turned his head, just barely managing to evade the Grysk Hound that had almost driven it's teeth through his face. Aiming his pistol towards the beast's neck, Thrawn fired, shooting the Hound in it's open gullet. Just then, Vader threw one arm outward, unleashing a Force Push that sent a squad of Grysk warriors flying backwards, taking several pieces of the walls with them.

Once again, the Chimaera shook violently, this time with the Ravager's hold on the hull beginning to break loose due to cannon fire from Thrawn's turbolaser batteries. "They are resilient..." Vader remarked, marching through the half-destroyed hallway with Thrawn and the Death Troopers by his side. "They are mortal." Thrawn countered, shooting a wounded Grysk warrior in the head with his pistol. "And they have vastly underestimated the occupants of this vessel." He added on, following Vader towards the hanger bay. Just then, Commander Faro spoke through Thrawn's comlink. "Admiral, the creature's central nervous cluster is embedded near the reactor core." Faro said, sounding very distressed through the comlink. "If it pierces the housing, this ship will become it's shell!" Faro exclaimed. 

"Then we must sever the connection from the outside." Thrawn replied, seeing all of his troops lined up near where smaller Grysk starfighters were boarding the Chimaera through the hanger, heavy-repeating blaster cannons at the ready. "Vent Hanger Four-Gee. Divert all emergency power to the magnetic clamps." Thrawn ordered. Vader, meanwhile, stood in the center of the hanger bay, watching more Grysk warriors exit their ships. These warriors, however, were different from the rest; they wore bone-white masks carved from the skulls of apex predators, and carried staves wrapped in bioluminescent eels, which crackled with electricity. The Grysks soon charged towards Vader, who reached out with the Force, immediately choking one of the Grysks and snapping their neck with ease. 

Vader then turned to Force Push another Grysk across the hanger, when the warrior acted faster, striking Vader's left arm with his staff and destabilizing the cybernetic hand with his staff's electrical current. Vader's breath quickened, feeling his left arm leading up to the elbow go numb. Nevertheless, he jammed his Lightsaber through the chest of the Grysk who had just struck him, using the Force to restore power to the prosthetic limb and blasting the other Grysk warriors back with a violent Force Push that also sent several fuel cannisters smashing into each other, causing them to explode. Vader marched towards the other Grysks, gripping his Lightsaber tightly as he prepared to press his attack, when the Chimaera rocked more violently than ever. Outside, Vader could hear the sounds of turbolaser batteries firing at the ship's own hull, attempting to loosen the Ravager's grip on the Destroyer.

"Now!" Thrawn shouted. All the Imperial troopers with blasters, rocketlaunchers, and heavy-repeating blaster cannons quickly opened fire on the Grysk and the Ravager alike, gunning all the warriors and their Hounds down while the Chimaera rattled uncontrollably. The Ravager shrieked, it's many legs beginning to spasm from the pressure of the turbolasers batteries and the many rockets being fired into it's insides. Vader marched towards the Ravager's main ocular nerve, located just below the edge of the hanger bay, unfazed by the winds that threatened to pull him into the vacuum of space. Drawing his saber back towards his neck, Vader threw his arm outward, hurling his Lightsaber towards the ocular nerve and watching the crimson blade lodge itself straight into the heart of the orb. The beast recoiled, finally letting go of the Chimaera's hull, while the Destroyer lurched forward, it's thrusters having been pushed to their limits by Pellaeon and Faro.

Vader stood alone at the edge of the hanger, his cloak fluttering softly behind him, whilst he watched the beast sink into the vacuum of space below. The alarms continued blaring, and the lights continued to flicker due to the damage that the Chimaera had suffered. Deactivating his Lightsaber, Vader finally turned around, clipping his Lightsaber to his belt and seeing Thrawn kneeling beside one of the Grysk warriors Vader had cut down. "Fascinating..." Thrawn whispered to himself, his finger tracing the intricate, pulsing patterns of the creature's living armor. "The armor is not worn, Lord Vader. It is grafted." Thrawn continued. "It forms a symbiotic relationship with the host, where it feeds on excess adrenaline in exchange for kinetic hardening." Vader stood tall over the corpse, staring at the Grysk's mask intently. "It felt...    Hollow." Vader said. "The Force does not flow through them as it does other living things. It flows outward like a vacuum."

"A tactical evolution." Thrawn noted, picking up the Grysk's weapon and standing up to meet Vader's gaze. "This staff you see uses a localized Singularity Core, biological in nature, to distort gravity. It is how they pulled us out of Hyperspace." He continued. "They did not use a simple Gravity Well Projector; they convinced the space around the Chimaera that it was no longer capable of remaining in Lightspeed." Suddenly, Thrawn's comlink began to beep, and the Grand Admiral took it off, activating it. "Admiral, the damage report is in." Commander Faro said. "The creature's legs sheared the primary Hyperdrive and bypassed the secondary coolant lines. We're dead in the water for long-range travel."

"Our position, Commander?" Thrawn asked. "Fortunately, the drag from the vessel dropped us on the edge of the Sluis Van system." Faro replied. "The shipyards have already acknowledged our distress signal and have sent tugs to bring us into the drylocks for a full refit." She continued. "Excellent." Thrawn replied. "Captain Pellaeon will assist you in overseeing the repairs and the security of the Grysk specimens." He added on. "Lord Vader and I will take my shuttle to Batuu ourselves. Ensure the containment fields are at maximum intensity, and do not allow the science teams to touch the organic tech without obeying bio-hazard protocols." "Understood, Admiral." Faro replied, deactivating the comlink on her end of the transmission.

Within a few hours, Thrawn and Vader departed the Chimaera in Thrawn's personal shuttle, whilst the Destroyer was being hauled towards the Sluis Van Shipyards, looking like a wounded titan in the middle of space. Inside the shuttle's cockpit, the silence was absolute, say for Vader's mechanical breathing. Thrawn sat in the passenger's seat, while Vader stood behind him, looming over the Chiss like a dark shadow. "The Chimaera is safe for now." Thrawn said. "But our mission remains. The Emperor sensed a disturbance there, and if the Grysk were bold enough to ambush a Star Destroyer in Imperial space, they likely have assets on the ground as well." Vader watched as the shuttle made the jump to Hyperspace, continuing the Chimaera's previous journey to Batuu. "Let them have their assets, Grand Admiral." Vader said, his voice booming in the cockpit. "On Batuu, they will only find their end."