Alliances (Star Wars: Thrawn, #2)(74)
“The Emperor has great interest in the Unknown Regions, my lord,” Thrawn said. “This secret is strongly connected to that interest, and to his ultimate goals in this part of space.”
Vader tightens his grip on his belt. “Is that to always be your excuse, Admiral?” Vader demanded “The Emperor and his goals? The Emperor is my master, as he is yours. Do you suggest I would betray him?”
“Not at all, my lord,” Thrawn assured him.
“Then you will tell me,” Vader said. “All of it.”
Vader’s body stance holds menace. But his hand does not move closer to his lightsaber. His voice holds threat, but it also holds self-control. “I offer a compromise, my lord,” Thrawn said. “I will tell you some of the truth now, and the rest when the prisoners are recovered.”
Vader remains silent for four seconds. His hand does not move in that time. “You ask a great deal of trust, Admiral,” he said. His voice holds perhaps slightly less threat. “I will not be mocked or toyed with.”
“I do not mock, my lord,” Thrawn said. “When you hear the truth, you will understand my reasons and my concerns, as well as those of the Emperor.”
Again, Vader is silent. But this time only for two seconds. “Very well. The Emperor has confidence in you. I will honor that confidence. For now.”
“Thank you, my lord.” Thrawn keyed his comlink. “Commodore Faro.”
“Faro, Admiral.” Her voice holds anticipation.
“Bring the Chimaera to our location,” Thrawn said. “We have seventeen more Grysk prisoners, whom you will secure in the starboard ready block.”
“Not the brig, sir?”
“No,” Thrawn said. “I do not wish them communicating with the other Grysks.”
“Yes, sir.”
“You will also prepare to bring the Grysk frigate aboard for further examination,” Thrawn said. “I have no doubt that its secrets will soon be ours.”
“Yes, sir.”
Thrawn keyed off. “And now, my lord,” he said to Vader, “I will tell you all that I can.”
The TIE pilots from the starboard ready block were not happy at being ousted from their ready room and quarters so that Commodore Faro could put a bunch of Grysk prisoners there. Luckily for the pilots, they got to share their frustration with the First Legion by ousting them from their own hangar-side quarters.
Hangar Master Xoxtin was upset on both counts, though mainly because her routine and private little fiefdom had been disrupted. Rumor had it that she hadn’t been shy about expressing that annoyance to Commodore Faro, either.
“This is ridiculous,” Sergeant Aksind fumed to Kimmund as he slapped his bedroll down on the Darkhawk’s common room deck. “What does Thrawn think he’s doing, putting them in personnel quarters instead of the Chimaera’s brig?”
“He said he doesn’t want them taken through the ship to the brig,” Kimmund said. He wasn’t exactly happy with this, either. But part of his job as the First Legion’s commander was to smooth over superiors’ orders with his stormtroopers as best he could.
Under Vader’s leadership, that often meant a lot of smoothing. It hadn’t always made him popular, but it had kept him alive.
Still, that was pretty much the way things were in the modern Imperial fleet. So many commanders were busy playing politics, or were trying to one-up each other, or were simply petty tyrants in their own right. Everyone else aboard those ships had little choice but to keep their heads down and try to make it through without becoming someone’s pawn or fall guy.
Except, apparently, aboard the Chimaera.
There was only so much a visitor to a ship the size of a Star Destroyer could learn in the limited time Kimmund and his stormtroopers had been aboard. But even from the beginning, the attitude of the officers and crew had struck him as unique. The ship had its share of midlevel tyrants, certainly—Xoxtin was an obvious example. But at the same time, none of the senior officers had the self-centeredness of men and women looking out solely for themselves, or the deadly inertia of people simply going through the motions. Everyone from Faro on down seemed intent on working together to do their jobs and complete their assigned tasks to the best of their ability.
The reason, of course, was obvious: Thrawn.
The grand admiral was smart and subtle, but never used his brilliance to show up or humiliate anyone. He demanded results, but never perfection, and had amazing stores of patience for those who were truly working to their fullest ability. He cared about his people, to the point of standing up for them even against the disapproval of powerful men like Lord Vader.
Which wasn’t to say he tolerated those who were lazy, or who wasted his time, or who were simply uninterested in giving their very best for the Empire. Kimmund had heard stories from the Chimaera’s crew about how such deadweights were sent packing in short order, usually to commanders who also weren’t interested in giving their best. On some occasions, they ended up back on Coruscant to stand for court-martials, much to the relief of those who’d had to put up with them.
The result was telling: a degree of loyalty Kimmund had seldom seen except within the ranks of his own First Legion.
It was a pity Thrawn’s style of leadership hadn’t spread through the rest of the navy. Still, he was certainly having an influence on the younger officers. If he lasted long enough, maybe those lessons would someday become the military standard.