Thrawn Ascendancy Book I: Chaos Rising

CHAPTER THREE

The corridor leading to the Aristocra hearing room was long, a little dark, and more than a little echoey. Ar’alani listened to her footsteps as she walked, hearing a sort of mocking doom, doom, doom in the dull thuds. Dramatics, designed to put approaching witnesses and speakers at a psychological disadvantage before they even entered the chamber.

The one they really wanted to rake over the firepit was Thrawn, of course. But he was off on some top-secret mission for Supreme General Ba’kif and out of reach. In his absence, someone had apparently decided that his commander during the battle should be called in front of an official tribunal, presumably in the hope that she would say something derogatory they could use against him at a later date.

A complete waste of time, really. Ar’alani had already said all she was going to say to the Defense Hierarchy Council, and she doubted anyone here truly expected her to change that testimony. And no matter how mad they might get at her, in theory the Aristocra and Nine Families could do nothing to a flag officer of her rank.

In theory.

“This,” Senior Captain Kiwu’tro’owmis huffed as she and her shorter legs labored to keep up with Ar’alani’s longer stride, “is bogus. Totally bogus. Bogus to the ninth, factorial.”

“That’s a lot of boguses,” Ar’alani said, smiling to herself. Not only was Wutroow an excellent first officer, but she was gifted with a knack for breaking tension and calling out absurdity.

“And I stand by every one of them,” Wutroow said. “We blasted the Paataatus into small bits of metal and got as groveling a peace settlement from them as I’ve ever seen. And the Aristocra still aren’t happy?”

“No,” Ar’alani agreed. “But we’re not the ones they’re unhappy at. We just happen to be the most convenient targets right now for their annoyance.”

Wutroow huffed. “Thrawn.”

Ar’alani nodded. “Thrawn.”

“In that case, it’s bogus to the tenth factorial,” Wutroow said firmly. “There was a good reason why he disobeyed your order. Plus his plan worked.”

Which was precisely why the Council hadn’t brought any charges or reprimands down on him, of course. Especially since neither Ar’alani nor any of the other ship commanders had been willing to file a charge.

But Thrawn had enemies among the Aristocra. And Council vindication or not, those enemies were smelling blood.

“So what do we do, ma’am?”

“We answer their questions,” Ar’alani told her. “Honestly, of course. Most Aristocra know not to ask a question they don’t already know the answer to.”

“I assume that doesn’t mean we can’t spiral our answers a little?”

“That’s certainly going to be my strategy,” Ar’alani said. “Just be careful you don’t spiral too far and end up staring into your own laser. Some of the Aristocra have honed that tactic into a fine art, and very much know it when they see it.”

Wutroow chuckled. “A fine art. Thrawn should like that.”

“Not the kind of art he excels at, unfortunately,” Ar’alani said. “Just watch yourself. If they can’t have his blood, they may try to get some of ours.”

“I don’t think we have to worry too much, Admiral,” Wutroow said. “Remember the old saying: The sky is always darkest—”

“—just before it goes completely black,” Ar’alani finished for her. “Yes, I had that same instructor at the academy.”

And then they were there. The door wards pulled on the rings, swinging the heavy panels open—more psychological dramatics—revealing the witness table and two chairs facing the darkened semicircle where the group of syndics silently sat awaiting them. Putting a note of confidence into her step, Ar’alani walked to the table and stood behind one of the chairs, Wutroow taking up position beside her. “Syndics of the Chiss Ascendancy, I greet you,” Ar’alani called, making sure her voice held the same confidence as her step. “I am Admiral Ar’alani, currently in command of the Vigilant and Picket Force Six of the Expansionary Defense Fleet. This is my first officer, Senior Captain Kiwu’tro’owmis.”

“Greetings, Admiral; Senior Captain,” a voice said from the ring.

And suddenly the darkness blazed with light.

Ar’alani blinked a couple of times as her eyes adjusted, a back corner of her mind appreciating this final gambit. The syndics had no need to cower in darkness; they could face anyone in the Ascendancy without fear.

“Please be seated,” another voice said. “We have just a few questions for you.”

“We stand ready to answer,” Ar’alani said, pulling out her chair and sitting down, her eyes flicking across the table. None of the faces were familiar to her, but the family nameplates at the front edge of the table told her everything she needed to know. Six families had been chosen for this particular tribunal, as usual comprising a mix of the Nine and the Great: the Irizi, Ar’alani’s old family; the Kiwu, Wutroow’s current family; plus the Clarr, Plikh, Ufsa, and Droc.

Conspicuous by its absence was Thrawn’s family, the Mitth.

Conspicuous and suspicious. The fact that Thrawn himself wasn’t here had probably been the others’ excuse for keeping the Mitth out of the questioning. But given that he was clearly the focus of the interrogation, the Mitth should have insisted on being present.

Unless they’d already decided among themselves that Thrawn was a liability and were throwing him to the nighthunters. It wouldn’t be the first time they’d considered that path.

“Let me get directly to the point,” the Clarr said. “Six days ago, your picket force was sent against the Paataatus in reprisal for their probes against our southeast-zenith border. During that battle, one of your ship commanders, Senior Captain Mitth’raw’nuruodo, disobeyed a direct order. Is this true?”

Ar’alani hesitated. Truthful, but spiraled. “He disobeyed a lesser order, yes, Syndic,” she said.

The Clarr frowned. “Excuse me?”

“I said he disobeyed a lesser order,” Ar’alani said. “At the time, though, he was obeying a greater order.”

“Well, this is certainly fascinating,” the Irizi put in drily. “The Irizi family has been honored to supply officers and warriors to the Defense Force for generations, and I don’t recall ever hearing of greater and lesser orders.”

“Perhaps priorities would be a better term,” Ar’alani amended. “A warrior’s first priority is of course to defend the Ascendancy. The second is to win the current battle and war. The third is to protect the ship and crew. The fourth is to obey a specific order.”

“Are you suggesting the Expansionary Defense Fleet operates like a free-form melee?” the Droc asked.

“More like a free-form sculpture if Thrawn is involved,” the Ufsa added under her breath.

A couple of the others chuckled. The Clarr didn’t so much as smile. “I asked you a question, Admiral.”

“Certainly the fleet isn’t as chaotic as your comment would make it appear,” Ar’alani said. “Ideally, the senior commander’s orders are perfectly in line with all those priorities.” She cocked her head, as if a thought had suddenly occurred to her. “In fact, I would venture to say it’s much the same with you.”

The Clarr’s eyes narrowed. “Explain.”

“Your first duty is to the Ascendancy,” Ar’alani said. “Your second is to your individual families.”

“What’s good for the Nine Families is good for the Ascendancy,” the Plikh said stiffly.

“No doubt,” Ar’alani agreed. “I simply refer to the hierarchy of goals and duties.”

“Even within the families,” Wutroow put in. “I imagine you treat blood differently from cousins, ranking distants, Trial-borns, and merit adoptives.”

“Thank you for your statement of the obvious, Senior Captain,” the Clarr said acidly. “But you weren’t brought here for a discussion of family relationships. You were brought here to explain why Captain Thrawn was permitted to disobey a direct order from his superior without suffering any consequences for his actions.”

“Forgive me, Syndic,” Wutroow said before Ar’alani could answer, “but I have a question.”

“Admiral Ar’alani, kindly inform your first officer that she’s here to answer questions, not ask them,” the Clarr snapped.

“Again, forgive me, Syndic,” Wutroow said doggedly, “but my question has a direct bearing on Captain Thrawn’s actions.”

The Clarr started to speak, hesitated, then pursed his lips. “Very well,” he said. “But I warn you, Captain, that I’m not in the mood for frivolous deflection.”

“Neither am I, Syndic,” Wutroow said. “As has been established, the reason Captain Thrawn moved the Springhawk away from Admiral Ar’alani’s force was to draw the ambush to himself and give the rest of the ships time to adjust and counterattack. My question is this: Why was the force ambushed so quickly and completely?”

“Because the Paataatus knew that their actions against the Ascendancy would naturally invite reprisals,” the Clarr said. “Especially if they were the ones behind the Csilla attack. I warned you about frivolous questions—”

“But why there?” Wutroow persisted. “Why that particular spot? Because they were very clearly expecting us.”

“You sound as if you already know the answer,” the Kiwu said. “Why don’t you tell us?”

“Thank you,” Wutroow said, inclining her head to him. “I’ve obtained a detailed report of the mission the Syndicure sent to the Paataatus shortly after they were identified as the ones pressing against our flank. The conversations were brief—”

“We’ve all read the report,” the Clarr interrupted. “Get on with it.”

“Yes, Syndic,” Wutroow said. There was no trace of a smile on her face, Ar’alani noted—Wutroow knew better than to even look like she might be mocking any of the Aristocra—but there was a subtle look in her eye that promised this was going to be good. “As the discussions ended and the emissaries returned to their ship, one of them said to the Paataatus delegation—” Wutroow paused and peered at her questis. “—and I quote: ‘The next time you see Chiss ships come toward you through those stars, they’ll be bringing your utter destruction.’ ” She looked up. “Do I need to identify the direction that emissary was pointing?”

“Nonsense,” the Ufsa bit out. “No diplomat would do anything so foolish.”

“Apparently one of them did,” Wutroow said. “Had Admiral Ar’alani known about that, of course, she would certainly have chosen a different attack vector. But she didn’t know.”

“And under those circumstances,” Ar’alani added, picking up on Wutroow’s opening, “I’m sure you recognize that Captain Thrawn’s actions were both necessary and proper.”

“Perhaps,” the Clarr said. His voice and face still weren’t conceding the point, but his earlier confidence had definitely cooled. “Interesting. Thank you for your time, Admiral; Captain. You’re dismissed. We’ll call you back after we’ve looked into this matter further.”

“Yes, Syndic,” Ar’alani said, standing up. “One other thing. I fully believe that this attack is the last demonstration we’ll need to launch against the Paataatus. Their diplomats seem fully committed to withdrawing to their borders and leaving the Ascendancy strictly alone. If that makes a difference to your deliberations.”

“Thank you,” the Clarr said again. “Good day.”

“They won’t, of course,” Wutroow said as the two women retraced their steps down the long corridor. “Call us back, I mean. Once they figure out what happened, the last thing they’ll want is to draw more attention to such a blunder.”

“Agreed,” Ar’alani said. “So is that story actually true?”

“Absolutely.” Wutroow smiled. “Bluffing an enemy in combat sometimes works. Bluffing the Aristocra doesn’t. No, one of the emissaries was actually stupid enough to stand there and point out our optimal attack vector.”

“You got this from someone in your family, I assume?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Wutroow confirmed. “I’m sorry, but I can’t give you the specifics.”

“I wasn’t going to ask,” Ar’alani assured her. “I assume leaking it to you had to do with some larger stakes of family politics, and not just getting Thrawn off the hook?”

“No, that was just a fortunate side effect.” Wutroow gave Ar’alani a sideways look. “I note you didn’t credit Thrawn with that prediction of future Paataatus inaction.”

Ar’alani felt her nose wrinkle. Normally, she hated the common practice of one officer taking credit for another’s achievements or ideas. But in this case…“I’ll make sure to correct the record in a year or two, assuming the prediction works out,” she said. “Today I don’t think it would have gone over well.”

“But you wanted to get it on the record,” Wutroow said, nodding. “And this was your best way of doing that. I guess you never realize how important family connections and pipelines are until you lose them.”

“No, you don’t,” Ar’alani said, feeling an old and distant sense of loss. “So enjoy it while you can.”

“What, me?” Wutroow gave a small laugh. “I appreciate the compliment, Admiral. But there’s no way I’ll ever make flag rank.”

“You never know, Captain,” Ar’alani said. “You really never know.”