I'm not calling you a liar, just don't lie to me
One more bit from Iteration because it amuses me, and then back to part 7 of Percy Weasley: Rogue Demon Hunter.
From Iteration, in which loose lips sink ships, Thrawn has a very good day, Wedge Antilles has a very bad day, popular characters die, popular pairings get twisted beyond all recognition, unpopular pairings happen, slash happens, minor characters develop actual personalities, the galaxy does not get saved for once and Talon Karrde has a lot to be upset about. AU starting somewhere near the middle of Dark Force Rising, if not before.
Three days later, Aves walked into the spaceport canteen at Abregado-rae, and right into an ambush. Wedge, at least, had the grace to look ashamed.
“I'm sorry,” he said, as Aves sat down slowly, holding his hands up in surrender. “They followed me; they got here right before you did.” He turned to the man next to him, who had the stink of Republic Intelligence all over him. “Can you put that thing down, Page? He's not going to run, and he's certainly not going to shoot anybody.”
Page lowered his blaster. Without the muzzle of a blaster pointed at his solar plexus, Aves could finally focus on the booth's third occupant, a man who was very familiar...
“Well, this is unexpected,” he said. “I didn't realize I rated a general himself.”
Garm Bel Iblis sat forward, folding his hands. “Consider it a good faith gesture on our part.”
“Except for the spook with the blaster pointed at my gut, of course.”
“Good faith,” Bel Iblis said, calmly, “but not stupid.”
“I am sorry,” Wedge said, and Aves really, really wanted to believe that it hadn't been an intentional set-up.
“Karrde's not going to talk you,” he said, cutting right to the chase. “Wedge has already tried to convince me, but it's just not going to happen. He thinks you're all a bunch of assholes, and, frankly, I'm starting to see his point...”
Page twitched, just perceptibly, like he really wanted his blaster back in his hand. Wedge, for his part, looked fairly miserable. Bel Iblis, though, said simply, “I understand why you might feel that way, considering that you don't yet have all the facts.”
“And you're going to enlighten me?”
“Given his attitude so far, I'm not sure we should-” Page began, still looking like he'd rather have Aves in binders for this conversation.
“Tell him,” Bel Iblis said, with the look of a man calculating risks and rewards. “All of it. We've come all this way, we have to tell him.” He looked at Aves. “Consider it another gesture of good faith.”
Aves looked to Wedge, who inclined his head just slightly. Trust them, at least for now; let them talk.
“You already know that Wayland was a storehouse for all the Emperor's nasty little goodies - and some not so little ones...” Page said.
“Yeah, and?”
“Well, the thing you don't know - the thing that almost no one outside of Intelligence and the higher levels of the military knows - is that Thrawn's people had made a pretty good dent in clearing that warehouse out by the time we got there.”
“How big a dent?”
“Not counting the cloning technologies? A little more than half.”
“So Thrawn is running around out there with half the Emperor's gadgets and other nasty surprises?”
“Yes, but that's actually not the worrying part.”
“It's not?”
“Believe it or not,” Bel Iblis cut in, “it isn't. You'd assume that since we captured the mountain, that we have access to the inventories of exactly what was there in the first place.” He folded his hands again, and Aves nodded, feeling a bit like he was a kid back in school. “That assumption would be wrong. The remaining Imperial troops there wiped the database and destroyed the hard drives before we could get to them - completely unrecoverable.”
“So there's no record. You know Thrawn has something, just not exactly what it is.”
“Exactly. The captured troops have been less than forthcoming about what was there, to the point that I'm of the opinion that they never actually knew.” Page made a noise of disagreement, but Bel Iblis ignored him.
Mara, Aves thought. Mara would have known. She would have pulled an itemized list out of that crazy scary memory of hers, and Karrde would have politely blackmailed the Republic with the info and gotten them all out of this mess. Too late for that now, though. Not for the first time, Aves felt a flash of anger at Mara for going and getting herself killed like that.
“That's not to say, though, that the information doesn't exist anywhere. We think it does, and that's where you come in.”
“Somebody accessed that data before the Imperials wiped it,” Page took over again. “Somebody using a remote terminal in Section G-867 at around 1800 hours. We only know of three people who were in the vicinity during that timeframe: Skywalker, Mara Jade and Karrde. Skywalker didn't do it, and Jade is dead... so, logically, it's a pretty good bet it was Karrde.”
“It fits, too,” Bel Iblis said, “with what I've seen of the man. I doubt he could have resisted the information. It's not just valuable from a monetary standpoint, it's a window into one of the most terrible and compelling minds of the last age...”
Aves swallowed hard. That did sound like something Karrde would be unable to turn down.
“As far as we can tell, Thrawn doesn't know he has it - but if he ever figures it out...”
Aves ran a nervous hand through his hair. “If he does, then we're fucked... sir. I mean, if you'll excuse the expression... General, sir.”
Wedge rolled his eyes at Aves's floundering, but Bel Iblis just smiled grimly. “Son, I'd say that's a pretty fair assessment of the situation.
“I don't suppose it would pay to ask whether there's anything good in the half of the Emperor's loot that your side has...?”
Bel Iblis actually grunted a laugh at that. “Let's just say we have one or two tricks up our sleeve. The problem, of course, is that Thrawn knows we have them - so we're going to have to get creative.”
Versus the most brilliant tactical genius the galaxy had seen since the Clone Wars, if not before. Stellar. “Well, good luck with that, I guess.”
To Aves's surprise, Bel Iblis laughed again. “I can see why Antilles likes you. Try not to squander our trust in you.”
Easier said than done. “You realize that if Karrde finds out I was here, talking to you official types, that he might just bounce me out of his group all together? If not worse?”
“You really think Karrde would do that?” Wedge said softly.
“I don't know. Two or three years ago, no. He'd give me what-for for making a stupid mistake, but he'd give me another chance. These days, though? He's...” Aves struggled for a moment to find the right words. “He's less predictable than he used to be, and he wasn't always all that predictable to start with.”
From Iteration, in which loose lips sink ships, Thrawn has a very good day, Wedge Antilles has a very bad day, popular characters die, popular pairings get twisted beyond all recognition, unpopular pairings happen, slash happens, minor characters develop actual personalities, the galaxy does not get saved for once and Talon Karrde has a lot to be upset about. AU starting somewhere near the middle of Dark Force Rising, if not before.
Three days later, Aves walked into the spaceport canteen at Abregado-rae, and right into an ambush. Wedge, at least, had the grace to look ashamed.
“I'm sorry,” he said, as Aves sat down slowly, holding his hands up in surrender. “They followed me; they got here right before you did.” He turned to the man next to him, who had the stink of Republic Intelligence all over him. “Can you put that thing down, Page? He's not going to run, and he's certainly not going to shoot anybody.”
Page lowered his blaster. Without the muzzle of a blaster pointed at his solar plexus, Aves could finally focus on the booth's third occupant, a man who was very familiar...
“Well, this is unexpected,” he said. “I didn't realize I rated a general himself.”
Garm Bel Iblis sat forward, folding his hands. “Consider it a good faith gesture on our part.”
“Except for the spook with the blaster pointed at my gut, of course.”
“Good faith,” Bel Iblis said, calmly, “but not stupid.”
“I am sorry,” Wedge said, and Aves really, really wanted to believe that it hadn't been an intentional set-up.
“Karrde's not going to talk you,” he said, cutting right to the chase. “Wedge has already tried to convince me, but it's just not going to happen. He thinks you're all a bunch of assholes, and, frankly, I'm starting to see his point...”
Page twitched, just perceptibly, like he really wanted his blaster back in his hand. Wedge, for his part, looked fairly miserable. Bel Iblis, though, said simply, “I understand why you might feel that way, considering that you don't yet have all the facts.”
“And you're going to enlighten me?”
“Given his attitude so far, I'm not sure we should-” Page began, still looking like he'd rather have Aves in binders for this conversation.
“Tell him,” Bel Iblis said, with the look of a man calculating risks and rewards. “All of it. We've come all this way, we have to tell him.” He looked at Aves. “Consider it another gesture of good faith.”
Aves looked to Wedge, who inclined his head just slightly. Trust them, at least for now; let them talk.
“You already know that Wayland was a storehouse for all the Emperor's nasty little goodies - and some not so little ones...” Page said.
“Yeah, and?”
“Well, the thing you don't know - the thing that almost no one outside of Intelligence and the higher levels of the military knows - is that Thrawn's people had made a pretty good dent in clearing that warehouse out by the time we got there.”
“How big a dent?”
“Not counting the cloning technologies? A little more than half.”
“So Thrawn is running around out there with half the Emperor's gadgets and other nasty surprises?”
“Yes, but that's actually not the worrying part.”
“It's not?”
“Believe it or not,” Bel Iblis cut in, “it isn't. You'd assume that since we captured the mountain, that we have access to the inventories of exactly what was there in the first place.” He folded his hands again, and Aves nodded, feeling a bit like he was a kid back in school. “That assumption would be wrong. The remaining Imperial troops there wiped the database and destroyed the hard drives before we could get to them - completely unrecoverable.”
“So there's no record. You know Thrawn has something, just not exactly what it is.”
“Exactly. The captured troops have been less than forthcoming about what was there, to the point that I'm of the opinion that they never actually knew.” Page made a noise of disagreement, but Bel Iblis ignored him.
Mara, Aves thought. Mara would have known. She would have pulled an itemized list out of that crazy scary memory of hers, and Karrde would have politely blackmailed the Republic with the info and gotten them all out of this mess. Too late for that now, though. Not for the first time, Aves felt a flash of anger at Mara for going and getting herself killed like that.
“That's not to say, though, that the information doesn't exist anywhere. We think it does, and that's where you come in.”
“Somebody accessed that data before the Imperials wiped it,” Page took over again. “Somebody using a remote terminal in Section G-867 at around 1800 hours. We only know of three people who were in the vicinity during that timeframe: Skywalker, Mara Jade and Karrde. Skywalker didn't do it, and Jade is dead... so, logically, it's a pretty good bet it was Karrde.”
“It fits, too,” Bel Iblis said, “with what I've seen of the man. I doubt he could have resisted the information. It's not just valuable from a monetary standpoint, it's a window into one of the most terrible and compelling minds of the last age...”
Aves swallowed hard. That did sound like something Karrde would be unable to turn down.
“As far as we can tell, Thrawn doesn't know he has it - but if he ever figures it out...”
Aves ran a nervous hand through his hair. “If he does, then we're fucked... sir. I mean, if you'll excuse the expression... General, sir.”
Wedge rolled his eyes at Aves's floundering, but Bel Iblis just smiled grimly. “Son, I'd say that's a pretty fair assessment of the situation.
“I don't suppose it would pay to ask whether there's anything good in the half of the Emperor's loot that your side has...?”
Bel Iblis actually grunted a laugh at that. “Let's just say we have one or two tricks up our sleeve. The problem, of course, is that Thrawn knows we have them - so we're going to have to get creative.”
Versus the most brilliant tactical genius the galaxy had seen since the Clone Wars, if not before. Stellar. “Well, good luck with that, I guess.”
To Aves's surprise, Bel Iblis laughed again. “I can see why Antilles likes you. Try not to squander our trust in you.”
Easier said than done. “You realize that if Karrde finds out I was here, talking to you official types, that he might just bounce me out of his group all together? If not worse?”
“You really think Karrde would do that?” Wedge said softly.
“I don't know. Two or three years ago, no. He'd give me what-for for making a stupid mistake, but he'd give me another chance. These days, though? He's...” Aves struggled for a moment to find the right words. “He's less predictable than he used to be, and he wasn't always all that predictable to start with.”