Thrawn: Alliances (Star Wars: Thrawn, #2)

by Timothy Zahn

There was more. Much more. Thrawn had recently suffered a serious defeat, permitting a small group of rebels he’d successfully trapped on the planet Atollon to slip through his fingers.

So this is just after Season 3 of SWR but before season 4

“Or the creature Admiral Thrawn claimed to have encountered on Atollon.”

The Bendu

If only Ahsoka hadn’t left the Jedi Order. But she had, and she was sorely missed, and not only for her battle skills.

Kimmund was the head of the First Legion, the elite unit that Lord Vader had drawn from the equally renowned 501st to serve as his personal stormtrooper force.

Ok so this is the elite

And with Commander Eli Vanto’s unexplained disappearance from the Seventh Fleet still

What???

“You will also inform your Noghri that my legion’s Darkhawk is off limits to him,”

Is it the guy in Season 4 of rebels?

“Technologies may certainly be different,” Thrawn said. “Science itself, less likely. There are certain laws that are universal.”

continued. “Six are relatively small, but four are large enough for their internal gravity to have shaped them into spheres.”

Very current science speak

“Then where are they?” Thrawn shook his head slowly. “That is a mystery we must solve.” “No,” Vader said. A sudden silence descended on the bridge. “Excuse me, my lord?” Thrawn asked, his voice under careful control. “We are not here to solve random mysteries,” Vader said firmly. “We are here to seek out the disturbance the Emperor sensed. That, and nothing else.”

But Checov gun.....

was one of the great things about R2-D2, Anakin thought as he maneuvered the Actis away from the ring and headed lower toward the planet below: the little droid’s willingness to do whatever was necessary to follow his master on the most difficult and dangerous roads.

“Artoo usually comes with me on missions.” “Indeed?” the intruder said. “Interesting. I was unaware that navigational machines had other uses.

Mm interesting

“I wish to more fully understand this conflict in which you’re embroiled,” the intruder said. “I wish answers of right and wrong, of order and chaos, of strength and weakness, of purpose and reaction.” There was a slight pause; and when the voice came back there was a new formality to it. “You asked my identity. I am now prepared to give it. I am Commander Mitth’raw’nuruodo, officer of the Expansionary Defense Fleet, servant of the Chiss Ascendancy. On behalf of my people, I ask your assistance in learning of this war before it sweeps its disaster over our own worlds.”

Thrawn as expected

It’s also likely they’ve heard of the Chiss.” He smiled slightly. “Though perhaps only as myths.” Anakin thought about all the places he’d been, all the small backwoods worlds he’d visited while chasing down Separatists. Some of the people there had only distant memories—or none at all—of the Jedi.

“The origins and driving force behind this Clone War are still somewhat opaque to me.”

Perhaps it didn't make sense tonThrawn

“Anonymity?” Vader interrupted scornfully. “Do you truly believe I can travel anywhere in the Empire without being recognized?”

According To some books like Twilight Company a lot of people didn't know who Darh Vader was. Here ithe opposite

“The warrior’s path lies before us,” he said. “Let us follow its guidance.”

There was the aftermath of the attempted assassination on Coruscant that had taken Cordé’s life, and the private tears Padmé and Duja had shared together.

The beginning ofthe AOTC

“Very possibly,” Thrawn said. “I assume the one eating with his dominant hand is the leader.” Anakin frowned. Dominant hand? What was Thrawn talking about? Then he got it. All five had blasters on their right hips, but only one was holding his meal in his right hand. The others were instead eating with their left hands, leaving their gun hands free. The underlings needing to be ready to fire at a moment’s notice, while the boss could be a little more leisurely about it?

He reached out to the Force, tweaking the attackers’ blasters a couple of degrees to the sides, just far enough to throw off their aim. Probably they never even realized what had happened.

IS this why nobody ever hits a Jedi?

“My word is my guarantee,” Thrawn said. “If his servant Anakin Skywalker were here, he would speak to that guarantee.” “Anakin Skywalker is dead.”

Thrawn knows

“So I have heard,”

Direct answer??!

Darshi houses. It was their sudden fear at the knowledge of what was to happen to them that the Emperor detected as a disturbance in the Force.” He paused, stretching out to the Force. “But you already knew they were Force-sensitive, did you not?”

Force sensitive especie???

Vader eyed him, stretching out to the Force. The Jedi, too, had been distrusted and his opinions casually dismissed, often by the people he was closest to. He, too, had known how it felt to be powerful, yet somehow still an outsider.

“Do Separatist shields in fact end before ground level?” “Many shields do,” Anakin said. “When you run them all the way to the ground the people inside start running out of breathable air. Unless they’re just ray shields, of course, in which case that doesn’t matter.

“Somewhere nearby. Possibly in some trouble—I can’t tell whether she’s worried or just in the middle of something.” “Can you communicate with her?” He shook his head and opened his eyes. “Sorry. It doesn’t work that way.”

Thats not how the force works!!

There was only one Jedi she knew who had both the skill and the sheer audacity to pull off a stunt like that. Anakin was here.

Yes she recognizes the style

Thrawn had claimed that his failure to capture or kill Kanan Jarrus at Atollon had been due to the strange creature that had unexpectedly intervened in the battle. The reports from the death trooper guard had appeared to corroborate that.

The Bendu

“Many years ago, I served briefly alongside General Anakin Skywalker,” Thrawn said at last. Vader felt an unpleasant sensation creep across his back. Was the Chiss really going to invoke The Jedi’s name now?

“At that point I was free to abandon him to his own task.” He turned to face Vader. “You have that same freedom of choice. I am asking that you remain at my side.” Vader stared into those glowing red eyes. No—it was impossible. The relationship between him and The Jedi was one of the darkest and most impenetrable secrets in the galaxy. It was unthinkable that the Chiss could have found his way through the barriers.

Unless the Emperor had told him.

ask you to return the debt of my service to its proper balance.” Vader clenched his teeth. Balance to the debt. Balance to the Force. Without knowing it, Thrawn was hitting all the trigger words, and in the process pulling up far too many of The Jedi’s unwanted memories.

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.

“Indeed, my lord,” Thrawn said. “More specifically, the Separatist factory on Mokivj that we once assaulted.” Vader straightened to his full height. “That you once assaulted,” he corrected. “No one else aboard the Chimaera was ever there.”

Is he toying with Vader???

“It’s a battle tactic invented by his former Padawan apprentice.

So this was after ahsoka left

These Chiss were Force-sensitive, and most likely Force-users as well.

“Nor do the Chiss produce appreciable numbers of Force-sensitives, though we call their gift Third Sight. But when such rare individuals are born, they come to us with but one ability, that of precognition.”

Standard Republic protocol called for astromech droids to be memory-wiped after every mission, lest a Separatist capture offer the enemy a treasure trove of classified information. Anakin had routinely ignored that order, despite the trouble it had occasionally gotten him into with both the military leadership and the Jedi Council. But as a result, R2-D2 still had all the stray bits and pieces of data and procedure that he’d picked up over the years.

“They’re the only ones in the Republic who use lightsabers, are they not?” “They are,” Anakin confirmed, his throat tightening. “You’re right, armor like this would be perfect for attacking the Jedi Temple. If Dooku could destroy the Jedi and the Senate and maybe capture Chancellor Palpatine—”

Getting ready for order 66?

“Does that bother you, Admiral?” Vader asked. “The creature you described on Atollon. It nearly defeated you because you could not understand it.” “In the end it was vanquished.” “Was it?” Vader countered. Thrawn’s lips compressed again. “This is hardly the time to discuss such matters.”

Again the Bendu

Thrawn was known for his efficiency, spending his troops with the care of a miser spending credits. But he was also known for his ruthlessness and his willingness to do whatever was necessary to achieve his objectives.

“They think they know Imperial weaponry, Commodore,” he said with quiet satisfaction. “But they have never encountered a TIE Defender.”

If this trying to boost the TIE defender case?

“But a single massive infiltration draws attention, while gradual infiltration holds the risk of premature discovery,” Thrawn pointed out. “I cannot help but wonder if the armor is intended for some other purpose.”

Yes for Order 66

Only it wasn’t Dooku who’d created that plan. What Vader knew now—what The Jedi had never known—was that the factory was being secretly overseen by Chancellor Palpatine, who saw in the cortosis an extra guarantee of success for his upcoming Order 66. “You said before that they were sealing themselves away,” Vader said.

“My error. I was thinking of an incident from my past.

Gosh he knows. Is he taunting Vader?

For another moment Vader was silent. “I am told you believe the navy should focus on small fighter craft.” A flicker of something crossed Thrawn’s face. “I do, my lord.” “The Defender is an excellent ship,” Vader said. “I will speak to the Emperor on behalf of the project.” He raised a finger. “But it needs to be faster, and more heavily armed.” He considered. “The controls, too, should also be made simpler. Not all Imperial pilots are as capable as Captain Skerris.”

Wao so Vader is backing the Defender. but .more or less than the Death Star? Skerris was sent to test the new prototype incorporating Vader recommendations as ins Sr Wars Rebels Season 4 Episode 6

“Excellent suggestions. I will transmit those instructions to the Lothal facility upon our return to Coruscant.”

Before the Rebels infiltration In Season 4 episode 6