The scout squadron commander had just left the compartment.
Captain Pellaeon watched the pilot go, shaking his head in time with his thoughts. Noticing the intelligent being sitting beside him hadn't even stirred, the commander of the Chimaera lifted his gaze to the Chiss.
Captain Gilad Pellaeon.
Clad in his impeccably tailored uniform, Grand Admiral Thrawn appeared to be boring his crimson eyes into the schematic still displayed on the computer monitor. A map of the Odgoster sector in the Outer Rim.
The place they had fled not long ago after receiving information from the planet Obroa-Skai. They had barely escaped, plunging headlong into hyperspace from four New Republic battle frigates and an escort squadron of X-wings.
It wasn't that he didn't understand — a lone Star Destroyer, crewed by a hastily trained team... No, Thrawn had done the right thing by ordering the jump to hyperspace to prevent damage to the Chimaera. But... how he had wished for a little miracle! After all, the grand admirals of the Galactic Empire were tactical and strategic geniuses; they should find solutions in any situation...
"And he did find one," came the sobering thought. "He saved your ship and your crew. So stop whimpering like a cabin boy and start living in reality!"
"The Obroa-Skai system has likely become a dead end," he said, hoping to break the tense silence. "It's as clear as day that the natives accepted the New Republic's offer."
"That does seem to be the case," Thrawn said, casting a glance at the commander of his flagship. And before Gilad could be surprised, he looked away, resuming his study of the diagram. The gloom returned. "You will agree, Captain, that if it were otherwise, it's highly unlikely such forces would have been dispatched after our scouts. Four corvettes..."
"Frigates," Pellaeon said automatically.
"And I thought you wouldn't notice the slip." Gilad nearly fell out of his chair. Was that... a smile?! On Thrawn's lips?! How...?!
The commander of the Chimaera felt sweat beading on his forehead. Calm down... So Thrawn smiled... It's not like one smile can bring about anything catastrophic, can it? Or can it?!
"It's good that you aren't completely lost in your thoughts, Captain," Thrawn said, finishing his thought. "Take a look at the diagram. Doesn't it remind you of anything?"
"A sector map," Pellaeon shrugged. "Routes, planets, asteroids, stars..."
"Stars precisely, Captain," Thrawn repeated, pointing to a transparent flash-memory card inserted into the computer. "They will save us."
"Seriously? Is he mocking me?" Pellaeon thought with strange irritation. What was happening to Thrawn? The usually silent, unsmiling, focused Thrawn...
"As you say, Admiral," Pellaeon sighed.
"Allow me to clarify," the blue-skinned officer said, taking the keyboard. "Obroa-Skai holds one of the largest libraries in the galaxy. And we were very fortunate that the natives allowed our scouts to copy their database of star systems before deciding to switch sides to the rebels. And that is precisely why we can..." The Chiss's fingers entered a data filtering command concerning the gravitational readings from nearby planets and stars...
An empty zone appeared on the hologram. One that shouldn't exist there. At least not in a sector known to the galaxy for thousands of years...
"Corrupted data?" he clarified.
"Do you think so?" Another smile played on Thrawn's lips. "It looks more like deliberate deletion of information to me."
"And why would the librarians do that?" Pellaeon was taken aback. "Their task is the exact opposite."
"These aren't the data from the flash-memory card," Thrawn stated. "These are from our navigation base. I requested it before you and our brave scout commander arrived here. But this," Thrawn now ran the file with data obtained from the Obroa-Skai library, "compare."
Pellaeon blinked. Once, twice, three times...
"The natives of Obroa-Skai have a complete map of the sector?" he asked in surprise.
"As you can see," Thrawn confirmed, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms across his chest. "Sometimes thinking things through properly is far more useful than moving blindly. You may rejoice, Captain. Today, we have seen the light."
"Admiral?" Pellaeon asked cautiously, hinting that it would be good to share the joyful information directly, not in riddles.
This — Thrawn pulled the flash-memory card from the drive and looked at it as if seeing it for the first time — "is the conclusion of a year-long search, Captain. The second piece of the puzzle that will bring us victory over the rebels."
"Yes, I'd like to know what the first piece is," Gilad grumbled in his head. Out loud, he remained silent out of habit.
Silence fell, broken only by the barely perceptible hum of the operating equipment.
"We have waited long enough, Captain," Grand Admiral Thrawn said. "Inform the fleet that we will be detaching from them for a time. And order the bridge to set course for the planet Myrkr."
"Myrkr?" Surprise colored Pellaeon's voice.
"Never heard of this delightful planet, Captain?" The Chiss seared him with his penetrating gaze.
"I'm afraid not, Admiral." Despite being sixty standard years old, Pellaeon had no complaints about his memory. If he didn't know something, he said so plainly. "Is there something on this planet that interests us?"
"Without a doubt." It seemed Thrawn's red eyes flared like supernovas. "There lies one of the secrets to our victory over the New Republic, Captain. And we are leaving for it immediately."
Pellaeon felt a rush of heat. It was as if the fire in the last Grand Admiral of the Galactic Empire's scarlet eyes was boiling his blood.
But what frightened him most was that simple smile that had begun to appear on the Chiss's face after their ignominious flight from the Obroa-Skai system. As if the retreat had broken Thrawn, but now he had pulled himself together again and was filled with the determination to do his duty and break the necks of the rebels who had caused the downfall of the Galactic Empire.
That day, almost five and a half years after the Battle of Endor — the beginning of the collapse of the state Gilad Pellaeon had served for a significant portion of his conscious life.
Yet doubts still gnawed at him about the sudden change in the Supreme Commander's behavior as he sat before him.
"Just who are you really, Grand Admiral Thrawn?" he wondered. And he realized he didn't want to know the answer.