Thrawn-is-a-Rebel-AU

[notallofus]

"I still don't like it."

It's not that Kanan's planted himself in the Phantom or anything, arms crossed and frown deeply set across his brow.

He would never.

"You going down there alone just because some new guy has issues. You're sure it's not a trap?"

He knows she's sure, and it's not that he's getting any feelings that would really let him argue about Hera not going, but --

He hates this.

Comments

[grandadmiralartcritic]

Thrawn nods, hands clasped behind his back and stance gone military again.

"Fewer hyperspace lanes, fewer witnesses and overt threats . . . I see."

He half-turns to look at Captain Syndulla.

"Who do they have working in the mines?"

[for_everyone]

Hera lets out a breath.

"Slaves." The distaste in her voice is palpable.

"Which means they never leave."

[grandadmiralartcritic]

"And perhaps their guards might grow lax, thinking their spirits broken."

Thrawn frowns, exhaling after a moment.

"Do you -- "

He stops himself.

" -- rather, do we have anyone on the inside? Or will that be part of the mission plan, as well?"

[for_everyone]

She shakes her head. "Right now we only have what we've observed from the outside.

"Our goals are to track their shipment hyperspace trajectories, sabotage the operations, free the workers, and take anything we can use for ourselves."

It's by all means a tall order.

[grandadmiralartcritic]

"Hmm."

He moves one hand to rest his forefinger across his lips, thinking.

"I have in my possession two -- let us call them refurbished -- buzz droids of the Mark One variety. They may prove useful for sabotage and our subsequent escape."

They may prove useful for other things, too, but one cannot adequately plan for battle if one does not know what resources are available. And so.

[for_everyone]

"Really?"

Hera doesn't try to hide her surprise. "I haven't heard of those turning up since my father took down the Perilous."

She turns back to the display. "All right. I think my ship can get into the system unnoticed, the asteroid belt can provide ample cover. We can investigate the best way to get someone inside - I'm guessing it would be easier to infiltrate the Imperials, they already seem to have their guard down."

[grandadmiralartcritic]

"It can be very surprising, the things pirates have stashed away when they don't know any better."

Surprisingly useful, too. Thrawn enjoys being well-read.

"I do have two humans on my crew. One is both a demolitionist and a fair pilot, which may be useful in the exfiltration portion of events."

[for_everyone]

"I have three. One's an explosives expert, she and another have experience infiltrating Imperial complexes."

Hera takes a breath before she continues. She knows the Loth-cat is out of the bag on this, but it still feels strange to so easily acknowledge this out loud.

"And two of them are Jedi."

[grandadmiralartcritic]

Jedi, is it?

There's a sense of dominoes falling -- or there would be, if the Chiss Ascendancy had anything like dominoes -- as several mission successes and methods attributed to the Ghost's crew begin to make more sense.

Oh, how very clever.

"Well-trained, I presume? Your Jedi. But not, perhaps, well known enough that every Imperial soldier is expected to know their faces."

One can hope.

[for_everyone]

Hera bites her lip. "One might be too well-known by now."

Kanan was just recently a prisoner of Grand Moff Tarkin, it might be hoping too much that his face wasn't transmitted across the Empire.

"But the other can probably still get by."

[grandadmiralartcritic]

"It will be a risk, but one, I think, well worth taking, should the layout of the mining facility be the type which one might expect."

There is a certain way for mines to be built, so it's not a huge gamble.

"As for hyperspace monitoring, there are several positions that should have the widest fields of view, and also sufficient places to hide sensor beacons."

[for_everyone]

She nods, pressing the control panel again. Several points on the image of the asteroid bet are highlighted.

"These were the best options I saw."

[grandadmiralartcritic]

"Hmm."

Thrawn shifts forward onto the balls of his feet, just a fraction.

Then he reaches out to point toward one particular point on the image.

"I imagine my engineer will feel most confident and least nervous in that relatively sheltered spot -- and thus her observational skills will be at their height. If that's acceptable to you, of course, for where my ship ought to be stationed."

[for_everyone]

"That should work," she agrees.

"But this might be a good time to bring in our crews."

[grandadmiralartcritic]

"A wise idea."

Credit where credit is due.

"And as we have a second shuttle, I'll send out the summons now."

Neutral ground -- and some open space -- is probably still a good idea. Thrawn knows his own crew can be fractious, and they are still sub-standard, at times, in holding up under tension when no action is forthcoming.

So.