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

by Timothy Zahn

Time for Thrawn to face his future. Time for Vader to face his past.

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.

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

“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.”

“I’ll make preparations at once,” Mitth’raw’nuruodo said. “One additional thought. Chiss names are difficult for many species to properly pronounce. I suggest you address me by my core name: Thrawn.”

“Kunesu!” a voice called from somewhere. Abruptly, the attack ceased. Anakin waited a couple of seconds to make sure the barrage wasn’t going to start again, then lowered his lightsaber a few centimeters and looked around. Standing a few meters inside the clearing a quarter of the way around the edge was a tall, slender man. Or rather, not quite a man. His eyes were glowing red, his skin blue, his hair blue-black. He was dressed in a black military-style uniform with a burgundy patch on one shoulder and silver bars on his collar. Something was holstered on his right hip—a sidearm of some sort—with a slender, lightsaber-sized tube holstered on his left. Thrawn.

“They don’t know me,” Thrawn said. “I also doubt they’ve ever seen this uniform. But they recognize that it is a uniform, and deduce therefore that I’m a person of authority. 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. “Not necessarily a bad thing,” he said. “It can be useful for people to underestimate you.”

“One would need a careful study of the border,” Thrawn said. “Millennia ago a set of chained supernova explosions throughout this particular region threw planet- and moon-sized masses at high speeds across the stars. The movements of those masses continually alter the hyperlanes, changing the paths in ways that are difficult to calculate. Other phenomena in other parts of the border created similar barriers. The hyperlanes that remain largely intact are beset with other dangers.”

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

“Or else simply didn’t move back sufficiently far to avoid the effects.” Thrawn paused. “You are a Jedi, then?” “I’d have thought that was obvious.” “Not at all,” Thrawn assured him. “Our myths of the Republic speak of two groups of beings with such powers: the Jedi, and the Sith. But the Sith are reputed to be clever and capable warriors. Tell me, do you recognize any of our attackers?”

“Courage is a virtue,” Thrawn said. “Foolishness is not.”

“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? “There came a moment when I had completed the task the Chiss Ascendancy had set for me,” Thrawn continued. “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.”

There was, Vader had noticed, a strange sort of symmetry in the Force, a balance that often manifested in patterns and resonances and strange reunions. People long separated would unexpectedly meet again; events of significance would see echoes of themselves within new events; places once visited would somehow draw a person back to create new memories, whether for good or for ill.

“The Cheunh word is ozyly-esehembo,” Thrawn said. “In Basic, it translates to ‘sky-walker.’ ” Another small smile. “You can imagine my momentary confusion when I first encountered General Anakin Skywalker.”