You kinda proved my point. Terminator armour is rare for a reason.They do, it's called Terminator armour
Although a chapter of Space Marine equiped with purely Terminator armour would be a nightmare to fight.
The Prince of Profit (Star Wars x 40k/Rogue Trader)
- Thread starter Kadaeux
- Start date
- Crossover
Although a chapter of Space Marine equiped with purely Terminator armour would be a nightmare to fight.
They are. Theyre just also psykers in the one case I know of.
- Location
- Perth
Just go around them lol.
They're walking tanks, but like... WW1 tanks. Good at shooting things from the front, but the sides and rear are extremely vulnerable.
That's why they're deployed when you need to close in on an enemy in an enclosed environment (like a space ship or bunker) where the enemy can only approach from the front.
But... again, like with so many other things, GW has forgotten how it's lore works and you get Space Marines donning Terminator Armour at any chance they get. Never mind that it slows you down, is bulkier and thus prevents you from dodging/feinting/stabbing/etc as fast as you can in regular power armour. Oh, and these guys in Terminator armour can duel Eldar and every other 'fast' xeno without problem, because Terminator armour possesses no drawbacks anymore.
Ugh.
Wish my lore remained consistent.
- Pronouns
- They/Their
Well, that, at least, has been slightly patched over by there being *levels* of Terminator Plate, with some being just slipping extra armor over conventional suits, to the 'normal' Big Bulky Menace Walk suits, to the one offset integrating Dreadnought components for the *EXTRA THICC* Marines like The Red Tide.
Chapter 59; From the Dark
Kadaeux
Delta Imperator
- Location
- Vortice between realities
Chapter 59;
From the Dark
The price of exile was a steep one. And so he painted. He studied. He researched. And the sight of a shuttle descending towards him was enough of a curiosity to pause his introspection and studies. Red eyes watched the falling craft as its escorts peeled back towards space. He was almost surprised to see another craft. Its course was perfect, and its pilot settled it down upon the landing pad with a skill few possessed, it would do no less than to disturb their passenger in such ways.
He did not wear the black robes, or bear the name Sidious. He came in the guise he presented publicly. Chancellor Palpatine. "I have a task for you." The Chancellor wasted no time with a preamble. "We have had visitors from another place arrive in our galaxy."
"The enemy you had me destroy Outbound Flight to avoid drawing?" He said in a measured and charismatic voice as he put down the datapad he was reading from in time to accept a stack of them from the future Emperor. He turned his eyes down to the first and frowned.
The Chancellor paced slightly. "They are not. They are an enigma to me, the force reveals nothing of their actions or intentions, and while it is not bent away from them, it doesn't seem to recognise them either. There is one other issue. They seem aware of the far outsiders, and seem intent on bringing them low."
"What do you want of me?" He asked through narrowed eyes.
Palpatine turned towards his shuttle. "Come with me, take a role as an admiral in the Grand Army of the Republic on special assignment. I want you to assess these outsiders and give me a report on them."
"As you command." Mitthraw'Nuruodo declared.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Venator moved through space over Kuat as the holographic displays in his quarters filled the chambers. Three months waging a war against the Separatists had done little to tax him, the tactical and strategic abilities of the CIS were primitive, half-remembered tactics from times well before the Republic had succeeded in suppressing the Sith Empire to destruction. This left him a significant amount of time for his primary role. There was a tone from the door. "Enter," he called, and the hatchway opened to allow the Jedi Master on board to enter.
The Mirialan woman had earned his grudging respect in many way, she had also learned over the time they had known one another not to interfere with his leadership and management of orbital engagements, and listened closely to his advice on how to manage other conflicts. But to his primary task, she had been of little direct use. "Admiral Thrawn, how does the great work proceed?"
"That depends on how honest you expect me to be." He answered as he called up the holo of the assault on Nal Hutta and Nar Shadaa once more.
"Let's try for a frank and true appraisal." She said.
He turned his glowing red eyes on her, trying to assess whether any mockery existed there, as usual it did not. The thoughtful and considerate Jedi Master seemed to have a more subtle sense of humour than most Jedi he had the misfortune to encounter, such as the brash and blunt tactical anti-genius displayed by Skywalker who relied on personal heroics over skill and planning, or the harsh brutality of Pong Krell who he refused to work with any further. That man seemed intent on killing as many clones as he could through brutal tactics designed to exhaust his own forces as much as the enemies.
He decided to be 'frank'. "We are in a great deal of trouble." He said plainly, "The Imperium under House Hydraxius is not the same one the texts available present it as. Moreover, what information is available shows a great and diverse degree of engagement across the entire galaxy."
"Can you elaborate?" She asked, he raised an eyebrow in answer and she continued to stare at him without shifting her own expression.
He nodded politely, "Right now the Imperium seems vested in increasing their own technology, their own holdings, and building and maintaining influence and power with all sides of this civil war. Several times however they have turned their hand and acted directly. And what I have seen is most dangerous indeed, they consider annihilation an acceptable strategy, and they have thousands of years of military experience distilled into everything they do."
Luminara frowned, "They seemed to be rather simple and harsh, we haven't noticed any particular skill involved in something as simple as orbital bombardment."
"Because you view it through your own lens." He explained with a cocked head, "They do not even see those as military actions, those were revenge. And you are missing the crucial pieces to the puzzle." He called up data on the bombardment of Nal Hutta. "Nal Hutta is no longer a habitable world, they conducted a strategic calculated bombardment, gave civilians time to flee to the spaceports, choke up available vessels trying to escape, sent in their troops to 'assist' and relocate the people of that world. Over eighty percent of the population they recovered from Nal Hutta chose to inhabit Imperial worlds. But every single Hutt Stronghold was assaulted and taken."
He indicated a console and she came over to observe the data. "While the mushroom clouds of nuclear bombardment were still rising every single Hutt on the planet was eliminated along with their families and security forces. I know you, as others, don't believe let alone trust in my ability to assess cultures by their artwork. But I am telling you as clearly as possible. Despite our numbers, if we end up in conflict with them, we are in a great deal of trouble. They are willing to go far further than almost anyone in the Republic, or even the CIS."
Luminara frowned, the Admiral seemed to be confirming some of the worst suspicions they had about the Imperium in the Jedi Temple. "Is such a threat likely?"
At this Thrawn seemed to relax fractionally, "So far... not at all, indeed I would suggest at this point hostilities between the Republic or CIS and the Imperium would only become likely if initiated by one of us, not them. Right now they are content to build wealth and profit through their participation in our war economy. They are preparing for something else though. Which is why I need to make another move."
"You do?" Luminara asked surprised, "I would have thought you don't intend to antagonise them?"
"Oh I don't Master Unduli. I intend to visit their space. See more than these reports could tell me. I prefer to do my own research, not rely on the works of others."
From the Dark
The price of exile was a steep one. And so he painted. He studied. He researched. And the sight of a shuttle descending towards him was enough of a curiosity to pause his introspection and studies. Red eyes watched the falling craft as its escorts peeled back towards space. He was almost surprised to see another craft. Its course was perfect, and its pilot settled it down upon the landing pad with a skill few possessed, it would do no less than to disturb their passenger in such ways.
He did not wear the black robes, or bear the name Sidious. He came in the guise he presented publicly. Chancellor Palpatine. "I have a task for you." The Chancellor wasted no time with a preamble. "We have had visitors from another place arrive in our galaxy."
"The enemy you had me destroy Outbound Flight to avoid drawing?" He said in a measured and charismatic voice as he put down the datapad he was reading from in time to accept a stack of them from the future Emperor. He turned his eyes down to the first and frowned.
The Chancellor paced slightly. "They are not. They are an enigma to me, the force reveals nothing of their actions or intentions, and while it is not bent away from them, it doesn't seem to recognise them either. There is one other issue. They seem aware of the far outsiders, and seem intent on bringing them low."
"What do you want of me?" He asked through narrowed eyes.
Palpatine turned towards his shuttle. "Come with me, take a role as an admiral in the Grand Army of the Republic on special assignment. I want you to assess these outsiders and give me a report on them."
"As you command." Mitthraw'Nuruodo declared.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Venator moved through space over Kuat as the holographic displays in his quarters filled the chambers. Three months waging a war against the Separatists had done little to tax him, the tactical and strategic abilities of the CIS were primitive, half-remembered tactics from times well before the Republic had succeeded in suppressing the Sith Empire to destruction. This left him a significant amount of time for his primary role. There was a tone from the door. "Enter," he called, and the hatchway opened to allow the Jedi Master on board to enter.
The Mirialan woman had earned his grudging respect in many way, she had also learned over the time they had known one another not to interfere with his leadership and management of orbital engagements, and listened closely to his advice on how to manage other conflicts. But to his primary task, she had been of little direct use. "Admiral Thrawn, how does the great work proceed?"
"That depends on how honest you expect me to be." He answered as he called up the holo of the assault on Nal Hutta and Nar Shadaa once more.
"Let's try for a frank and true appraisal." She said.
He turned his glowing red eyes on her, trying to assess whether any mockery existed there, as usual it did not. The thoughtful and considerate Jedi Master seemed to have a more subtle sense of humour than most Jedi he had the misfortune to encounter, such as the brash and blunt tactical anti-genius displayed by Skywalker who relied on personal heroics over skill and planning, or the harsh brutality of Pong Krell who he refused to work with any further. That man seemed intent on killing as many clones as he could through brutal tactics designed to exhaust his own forces as much as the enemies.
He decided to be 'frank'. "We are in a great deal of trouble." He said plainly, "The Imperium under House Hydraxius is not the same one the texts available present it as. Moreover, what information is available shows a great and diverse degree of engagement across the entire galaxy."
"Can you elaborate?" She asked, he raised an eyebrow in answer and she continued to stare at him without shifting her own expression.
He nodded politely, "Right now the Imperium seems vested in increasing their own technology, their own holdings, and building and maintaining influence and power with all sides of this civil war. Several times however they have turned their hand and acted directly. And what I have seen is most dangerous indeed, they consider annihilation an acceptable strategy, and they have thousands of years of military experience distilled into everything they do."
Luminara frowned, "They seemed to be rather simple and harsh, we haven't noticed any particular skill involved in something as simple as orbital bombardment."
"Because you view it through your own lens." He explained with a cocked head, "They do not even see those as military actions, those were revenge. And you are missing the crucial pieces to the puzzle." He called up data on the bombardment of Nal Hutta. "Nal Hutta is no longer a habitable world, they conducted a strategic calculated bombardment, gave civilians time to flee to the spaceports, choke up available vessels trying to escape, sent in their troops to 'assist' and relocate the people of that world. Over eighty percent of the population they recovered from Nal Hutta chose to inhabit Imperial worlds. But every single Hutt Stronghold was assaulted and taken."
He indicated a console and she came over to observe the data. "While the mushroom clouds of nuclear bombardment were still rising every single Hutt on the planet was eliminated along with their families and security forces. I know you, as others, don't believe let alone trust in my ability to assess cultures by their artwork. But I am telling you as clearly as possible. Despite our numbers, if we end up in conflict with them, we are in a great deal of trouble. They are willing to go far further than almost anyone in the Republic, or even the CIS."
Luminara frowned, the Admiral seemed to be confirming some of the worst suspicions they had about the Imperium in the Jedi Temple. "Is such a threat likely?"
At this Thrawn seemed to relax fractionally, "So far... not at all, indeed I would suggest at this point hostilities between the Republic or CIS and the Imperium would only become likely if initiated by one of us, not them. Right now they are content to build wealth and profit through their participation in our war economy. They are preparing for something else though. Which is why I need to make another move."
"You do?" Luminara asked surprised, "I would have thought you don't intend to antagonise them?"
"Oh I don't Master Unduli. I intend to visit their space. See more than these reports could tell me. I prefer to do my own research, not rely on the works of others."
"To defeat your enemy, you must know them. Not simply through their battle tactics but their history, philosophy,... art." - Grand Admiral Thrawn and he's really good at gathering intel in unusual ways.
t be fair The original Thrawn was a badass, and he was only loyal to Palpatine and the empire becuase he wanted to stop the Vong and so the empire as the only option in doing that. Literally everything he did was an attempt to strengthen them to do that job.
The disney version seems to be doing what they did with all the starwars villians and bad guys. turn him into a 2 dimensional cartoon villian, he is so out of characture it isnt even funny.
The disney version seems to be doing what they did with all the starwars villians and bad guys. turn him into a 2 dimensional cartoon villian, he is so out of characture it isnt even funny.
Not really, Grand Admiral Thrawn is pretty great so far and his lines are pretty memorable. And that he nearly wiped out the fledging Rebel Alliance as we see what happened to their makeshift fleet trying to break through his blockade and failed.
"I don't need glory, only results for my emperor." - one of his best lines.
Kadaeux
Delta Imperator
- Location
- Vortice between realities
Yes... and no. I do like what they've done with him in Ashoka and Rebels.. BUT it does come off as relatively two dimensional compared to the novels, because you lack the scenes from the books where there aren't protagonists present where a lot of Thrawn's intelligence is really displayed.
(Of course... the orbital bombardment in Rebels using "Heavy Turbolasers" with less yield than a 20mm mortar was a VERY embarassing showing.... if your speeder bike is hit ANYWHERE, fore or aft, by a Heavy Turbolaser bolt, they shouldn't even find teeth to identify who occupied the crater you used to be in.)
yep and consider in the disney show he seems to only have a very small amount of assests its impressive. Except when you see what he did with a small amount in the comics and books kinda puts it to shame.
The fact he rocks up back to the complete screwup and very nearly ends the entire new republic in the comics if epic, he only really lost due to being betrayed and then hes brought back as a clone and does it all again. The fact the rebelse and Republic pretty much abandoned anything but trying to kill him when he showed up shows how dangerous he is.
Disney hasnt quite got there with him yet. the problem with disney though is the fact the HEROs have to alsways win even if it makes very little sense why the do. Because for some reaon the Heros are Idiot Savants. Which again doesnt make sense as in Legends they were actually pretty good at their jobs and seriously less brooding happened.
All the mistakes Thrawn makes arent really ones the Legends version would do. Unless there was a specific out of context reason. Tharwn WON. Hes the equivlant of that one Tabletop player who always rolls NAT 100`s on his turn. Its why he was so effective.
But then again a Villian is only as good as their writer and yeeeaahhhhhh....Disney is lacking in that department massivly at the moment.
The fact he rocks up back to the complete screwup and very nearly ends the entire new republic in the comics if epic, he only really lost due to being betrayed and then hes brought back as a clone and does it all again. The fact the rebelse and Republic pretty much abandoned anything but trying to kill him when he showed up shows how dangerous he is.
Disney hasnt quite got there with him yet. the problem with disney though is the fact the HEROs have to alsways win even if it makes very little sense why the do. Because for some reaon the Heros are Idiot Savants. Which again doesnt make sense as in Legends they were actually pretty good at their jobs and seriously less brooding happened.
All the mistakes Thrawn makes arent really ones the Legends version would do. Unless there was a specific out of context reason. Tharwn WON. Hes the equivlant of that one Tabletop player who always rolls NAT 100`s on his turn. Its why he was so effective.
But then again a Villian is only as good as their writer and yeeeaahhhhhh....Disney is lacking in that department massivly at the moment.
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Lord_Anthrax
Daemon Prince of Nurgle
To be honest it he might do alright. Especially since he's chiss which are essentially textbook abhumans. And he's thrawn he can get intel from things that nobody else can.
Thrawn doesn't realize what buttons his appearance is going to push in the Imperials. A Chiss looks like the idealized hybridization of a Human and a Tau.
I'm surprised that anyone here didn't connect that Thrawn are blue and that the Imperium will see him and think ''Tau civilization on sight'' it will be at least funny if the Admiral get a datapack of the Tau from what they do to their people from all the way to introducing new planets and people to their Greater Good.
A roge trader ship crash lands in lord of the rings
"For the God emperor" Ganomdof: "I didn't know that men had a God."
"For the God emperor" Ganomdof: "I didn't know that men had a God."
Wouldn't the God of man be just be Eru Iluvatar?
Fellow Human
Verified Roado Rolla
Amidala Pikachu face
Hutt space has a 1000 habitated worlds, some of which are industrialized, others half developed or merely moons and finally the backwaters, but giving away 4 worlds isn't much.
50 million tons annualy isn't much for any space industry, if Jabba gets some droid labor and improves efficiency, this is nothing
Though it is worrying if he builds up an army. I thought RT wanted to conquer Hutt space which is large enough, once uplifted to hold its own against the Clone Wars victor, but I guess the time isn't right.
In another fic Outside Context Problem, where a real sci fi power from Stellaris find themselves in Corusca, it's a cold war race between Stellaris Outer Rim expansion(quantity) and Republic improving the quality of it's trash space ships and weapons.
This is pretty good, though it lost some of its early humor and went on with the wank too much in the second half of the story.Being fair Armand wasn't trying to do that. It's not his fault the Imperiums premier starfighter is the size of a Gozanti cruiser
I don't want Imperium taking one step forward, one step back in eternal annoying struggle with their many internal enemies, but things are going too well for them.
Some cleanup now that cultists have lost their power would be nice, they can still ruin everything for everyone with the acausal Warp if left alone.
I find that most characters are done ok, except for Palpatine and less so Dooku. Yes they were overawed by the Imperium(we could use less of that, it's been repeated enough) but they still acted like chumps that got mansplained. Especially Palpatine when he diverted from Dooku to Imperium, saying: "It's gonna be daijobu, everything according to plan." That was some cartoony shit.
Before Dooku turned Clone Wars into a real war, either side could've simply swarmed the Imperium.
I think at least their fleet and orbitals would've been destroyed, but they wouldn't be able to destroy/conquer a Hive/Forge world, due to their pathetic ground army numbering merely in the millions, and the Imperium ofc having anti orbital and anti air guns.
For imperial army improvements, I'd like to stress again these:
hover tanks
hover ship(specialized for flying very low and thus not being an ez target in the sky)
drones like from Oblivion or what Maul had in episode I, I think
unhackable droids commanded by soldiers nearby, no freaking wifi for them, just preset vocal/cable transferred commands
For example, each soldier would be like a minor officer for a few droids/drones.
I get that RT wants to show off, but no reason for other warships to have Versailles inside them.
Make them comfortable for long cruises yes, but no freaking cathedrals and museums inside.
"Narrow" hallways as chokepoints and so no giant aliens/droids can board, say 2m wide, 2.5m high. Big boys can stay in the hangar and adjacents spaces.
This too might be hated by 40k hardcore fans, but change the ship shape too, sphere, pyramid, cube or at least an ovaloid are much better.
4:30 min video, TL;DW ships need AFT weapons for flip and burn to maintain optimal range or when running away. It's space battle, not jousting.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfW8hP3LZJ4
Space fighters are an equally dumb concept as WWII ships in space. The only ones that make sense are Vulture droids. Cockpit in space is fking dumb, what is anyone gonna see at thousands to millions of kilometers. What about travel time, they have room to sit and stay there for half a day or more? Then an actual battle happens and random radiation and shrapnel simply AOE's the tiny fighters. Then there's innertia and why droids are made for this, and organics are not.
Gotta be expensive to put all that life support stuff in an expendable fighter.
So I'd advise Firespray to be the smallest manned space ship. Though it has a bad design with it's vertical profile being a big target.
Build a lot of 100m-1000m sized corvettes to project power. They have a few dozen giant ships, they need more and fast. And it's better to match a 1km Venator with a 700m Imperial ship, coz Imperials have better weapons and armor. Better to have 10 of these 700m long ships, than 3 of the 1.5km ones.
Ofc ideally you want to outmatch the enemy power by at least 15% so your ships can move on to other targets undamaged, with regenerated shields.
It'd be noice if Imps found a Harrower in Hutt space, took the design and upgraded it.
Can't find the line about time travel but I think it was uncertain between 40-60k years. No idea how that affects galactic distances as they move, but here's the current list:
List of nearest galaxies - Wikipedia
The Only galaxy that fits Corrusca(fanon name?) is Andromeda, which is not the closest but still close at 2.5 million light years. Ofc both galaxies moved but in intergalactic terms of distance and time, it's not much.
"Andromeda is speeding toward us at 68 miles per second (110 kilometers per second). Compare this to the light from Andromeda, which is moving toward us at 186,000 miles per second (300,000 km/s).
So how much closer to collision with Andromeda have we come in the past 2.5 million years? If we assume Andromeda has been moving at the same speed without accelerating, then in the last 2.5 million years, Andromeda has moved only 900 light-years closer to us."
The reason only Andromeda fits is because MW and it are the biggest boys in the Local Group, and Corrusca is comparable(GL didn't really put effort in making it different tha MW).
Anyway 2.5 million light years is not much for Warp and Hyperdrive, considering MW is 100 000 ly long and without gravity wells/daemons, these drives travel it quite fast.
I'm hoping at the end of the story they reach the Awaited Emperor, be it in Bronze Age, Age of Technology or start of the Crusade.
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Chapter 60; A Dangerous Mind
Kadaeux
Delta Imperator
- Location
- Vortice between realities
Chapter 60;
A Dangerous Mind
Thrawn leaned back having given the order to arrive at the Rogue Trader's current location, the world was one of the newly colonised ones, the first of them in fact. Whatever name its original discoverers might have given it was gone, no longer applicable in light of new management. It was now New Gudrun. He watched as the field of blue reverted back to a field of stars and a four light seconds away the planet hung, New Gudrun was a relatively dusty world, with a thin temperate band around its equator. And around it, a fleet of ships hung. "Sensors, what do we have."
"Imperial fleet. Lead by the Throne of Man... We have twelve orbital stations around the planet sir. They look like modified Empress class space stations?" The clone leading that section called out. Thrawn moved over to the section above them and the clone passed up a datapad with the details on board. And the details were sparse. And while there were similarities, they were few. Ignoring the gothic structure, there were no landing platforms, instead massive turrets occupied the place they would have been.
And as they watched, the nearest facilities were already turning their turrets to bear on the fleet. "Activate communications." He ordered and waited until he got confirmation that the channel was open. "I am Admiral Thrawn of the Grand Army of the Republic, I wish an audience with Lord Hydraxius."
Thrawn waited, knowing it would take four seconds for his own message to travel the distances, and four more for a return message. But there was no such delay. "Admiral, the 'Throne of Man' has come about to our heading and its drives are burning hard." He studied the move and pondered it, was it to remove itself from the gravity well of the planet for a hyperspace jump? Or even one of their own stranger warp jumps? It turned out the answer was neither.
"This is Master of the Fleet Archibald Castigatus von Wolseley. You may approach to a high anchor of a hundred thousand kilometres from New Gudrun. Once there please lower shields and broadcast the location of the Admiral and anyone joining him on his venture to the Rapturous Glory of Profit for the Throne of Man." The instructions included a data packet showing them their assigned 'high anchor'.
"Sensors, give me as much information as you can." The men went to work studying their screens and transcribing as much relevant information as they could consider to datapad. "Helm, bring us to their high anchor." He studied the flagship heading their direction and frowned as he pondered the question to himself. Were they rising to meet him in battle, and why were the escort vessels not matching its formation. The distances involved were far too...
They were in formation Thrawn realised. The other vessels were in fact rising with their flagship, but the range of their formation was enormous, far greater than the typical engagments would warrant. But these were not typical opponents, their own doctrines were vastly different. He knew based on observed encounters that his own starfighter and even bomber complements were almost useless, the distance they would need to cross would leave them exposed to long ranged fire. Luminara had arrived on the bridge and offered no commentary until now. "Admiral, do you intend to obey their restriction and lower your shield?"
"Of course." He answered almost absently. "I have requested to visit with the master of that ship, and we have no hostile intent." And as the fleet closed he felt no concern, even as they adjusted their own course to fit in the high anchor allocated to them. "I wonder why they have asked for it however." He admitted. Every minute threatened to raise the tensions further, and yet, the tensions never truly manifested. The vessel continued its approach until they were within ten thousand kilometres at which thrusters concealed to its fore ignited like chained suns and moved to arrest the massive momentum of the capital vessel and settle it into a stable orbit. "Lower shields, transmit my location."
Luminara suddenly went white. Not pale, but white as all light seemed to bleed out of the universe and then it was replaced with a kalaedoscope of colours, barrages of mental and emotional energy washed over their unprotected forms as it seemed to blink through every spectrum of light, and light that was impossible, so much so Thrawn's mind refused to process that he had even witnessed anything before with a crash of thunder they appeared in a chamber. Above them the turning machinery slowly began to grind down to a slow halt, arcing ruby lightning that left their afterimages not in his sight, but in his soul. And yet when they were gone, so to seemed to be the mark on his mind.
Before him stood a tall, beautiful woman who radiated danger to him. He recognised her image from the reports passed onto him by Palpatine. Gwendolyn, the matriarch of the House.
"Permission to come aboard Lady Gwendolyn Diana Montcroix Von Hydraxius. I am Admiral Mitthraw'Nuruodo of the Grand Army of the Republic." He noted that, for all her nobility, she had a weapon on each hip, and moved like she was born to use them.
Her own expression seemed almost affronted. But it faded to a diplomatic politeness. "Welcome on board the Throne of Man. You have my lords permission to board." She turned and he moved to follow, noting the utterly massive bulked out humanoids who served as her bodyguard. He suspected they were less dangerous than she. But Thrawn was studying everything as he moved behind her into the ship. He often told people that you could learn a lot by studying their art. A myth that he had carefully cultivated to conceal the fact he simply wasn't as stupid as others, merely observant. There was a taste of truth to the statement of course. But to argue a species could be assessed wholly based on its art was a foolish argument.
And he was glad of that. For as they moved through the halls of this ship, he saw things that did worry him greatly. The reports had little practicable information, and he had thought the information the strangers had provided would have been greatly editorialised to highlight how good and powerful they were. "I wished to learn more about your people, in such a short span you have introduced some significant changes into the galaxy." And his breath was taken away as they stepped through into an actual art gallery. There was nothing holographic or fake here. And then he realised what he was seeing. A trophy room. Items taken in conquest, military or in trade. "Lord Hydraxius is a connoisseur of the arts?"
She smiled genuinely then. "Not particularly if you would like the truth Admiral. I have more of an affinity for arts than he does, but maintaining a collection of fine art is an affectation common among Rogue Traders, it shows a sophistication to others, and is a source of fine gifts to impress those who need to be impressed."
He nodded, "A tactical and strategic decision then?" She smiled, for the first time with feeling behind it and nodded.
"Exactly." She continued before Thrawn stopped by another of the exhibits.
"This is exquisite... I've never seen a statue quite like this. Extremely lifelike." He leaned closer, and felt the finer hairs on his arms lifting from some sort of static field.
Gwendolyn moved in and carefully pulled the Admiral back. "Gothrian Gor, a Broodmaster of the Rak'gol. He was defeated in battle some seventy years ago, its last request was that Arthurius kill it and show he had honour. Gothrian and his clan of pirates had marauded our worlds for almost fifty years before we pinned him down. For his crimes Arthurius declared that Gothrian would never be allowed to die, only stand in stasis forever and watch the wealth of von Hydraxius build up around him. That he would forever be the least of the trophies we took."
"He is... aware?" Thrawn said with academic interest.
Gwendolyn shrugged. "Based on our knowledge and experiences, those in stasis are rarely aware of their surrounds, years or decades may be but a single second to the occupant of a stasis field." So they were vindictive and spiteful, that could be useful. Though he was aware of some of this already given their reaction to Zygerrians and the Hutts. It was then he noticed another item. An intact Hutt Skeleton.
"I see, you have an excellent collection. It looks well cared for." He remarked before stopping before a small book. "Can you tell me of this one?"
"A copy of the Byhata, the Vitrian Art of War." She said checking the plaque. "It is considered a capital offence by the Vitrians to allow an outsider to read it."
He raised an eyebrow, "Were they notable strategists?"
"Acceptable. The contents of it are hardly revolutionary and are far too rigid to be of use outside of a relatively narrow field of war. House Hydraxius obtained that..." She checked the plaque once more, "four thousand and twenty three years ago, it's relative rarity make it a collectors item. And with what happened to us, that is magnified by quite a lot given that Vitria no longer exists, yet."
Thrawn raised an eyebrow, "And if I wished to purchase it from you?"
Gwendolyn cocked her head slightly. "That is a matter for Arthurius' discretion."
He nodded and as they continued he asked another question, "If I may be bold, was this supposed to impress me?" She surprised him by smiling.
"It is rather transparent. And it generally works with more... political figures. Though our trophy room has something for most, more... martial... men and women are less effected by the opulence on display. Master Unduli," She said turning to the Jedi Master for a moment, "I apologise for neglecting you, I know you did not get a chance to visit our vessel during your last encounter with us over Hutt Space."
"I understand very well Lady Hydraxius, but I am a passive observer here, Admiral Thrawn was the one who wished to meet with Lord Hydraxius." She answered.
"Well let's not keep anyone waiting." Gwendolyn answered. And Thrawn turned to Luminara.
"If I may Master Jedi, I must speak with Lord Hydraxius alone." The look on her face was one of surprise. But she was a patient woman, and thoughtful, and nodded.
"I will ask a rating to take you to the guest quarters Masted Jedi," Their host said, indicating a man in an alcove.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Thrawn was promptly lead into the vast library that seemed to be the Lords private meeting room for when he needed to see guests in complete privacy. He moved along the bottom shelf studying the titles of the books there, recalling the flash education on the Imperial's languages and writings. They were many and their topics seemed to range from elusive to the very clear, from the Spheres of Longing by someone called Gideon Ravenor to a treatise on orbital warfare by a Lord Admiral Ravensburg next to a History of the Gothic War.
"Welcome to my vessel Admiral Thrawn." The Chiss admiral studied the human with a critical eye and, to his surprise, saw someone who was a kindred spirit. He was reading reports on dataslates and seemed to be dividing his attention three ways between them, yet Thrawn also felt like he was the focus of the mans attention. He recognised the tactic, to throw a man off by feigning disinterest, working on something else. "How can I help you, how can I help you in a way that requires you to send away Master Unduli?"
"The Far Outsiders." He said plainly and saw the man put down his report and look up straight into his own eyes. So few humans seemed able to look him in the eyes, his respect for the man grew. "I am told that you have brought up prophecies of something coming from beyond the edge of the galaxy?"
"No, we conducted auguries using the Emperor's Tarot, which acts as a psychic focus for prescient abilities, it is imperfect and doesn't convey much detail, they are not prophecies. There is a threat beyond the galaxy that is already heading here, and probably has advance elements already in the galaxy." He picked up a dataslate and handed it to Gwendolyn who studied it before passing it to Thrawn. "I don't expect you to understand."
Thrawn nodded in agreement. He didn't understand, but the prescient abilities of Palpatine had lead to his attack on the Outbound Flight and destroying it to prevent the Far Outsiders finding them. "What you are saying is that they are already coming, perhaps already here?"
"Based on our intelligence yes." Arthurius leaned back in his chair. "Which is why this war is very important."
That made Thrawn blink. "I am listening."
"The people running the war in this galaxy have a significant lapse in knowledge and experience in waging war. The use of Jedi as leaders for the Clone army was itself a colossal error in judgement, the battle for Geonosis that bloodied them involved them being thrown at the Separatists across an open field, costing fully half the lives of all those deployed. The Jedi were peacekeepers, not generals and leaders. And now not only are they leading troops, but they're actually using children as leaders as well! While there is nothing wrong with building the experience of the young in conflict, you must not give them leadership." Arthurius said and Thrawn assessed his words, they were true, and matched many of his own private thoughts on the matter.
"On the other side of the war there is no less foolish decisions being made. The sheer number of Droids should enable the Confederacy to obtain significant victories with little real chance of the much smaller GAR opposing them." He shook his head. "No, we have a galaxy of relatively poor strategic and tactical minds who have stagnated without conflict. They cannot resist the threat to come. But you already knew that."
"I did." Thrawn answered. "But my benefactor is increasingly concerned about your actions. You have disrupted a number of his plans already, plans that were intended to bring us to a point where the galaxy was unified against the threat. "
Arthurius nodded. "But that isn't what we are going to need Admiral Thrawn. We need experienced, bloodied and determined forces." He stood suddenly and Thrawn saw another man in the room one he hadn't seen before who had been whispering into the Rogue Trader's ear. "We do not intend to move against the CIS or Republic. I intend to take this threat from beyond the Galaxy and burn it to ashes."
A Dangerous Mind
Thrawn leaned back having given the order to arrive at the Rogue Trader's current location, the world was one of the newly colonised ones, the first of them in fact. Whatever name its original discoverers might have given it was gone, no longer applicable in light of new management. It was now New Gudrun. He watched as the field of blue reverted back to a field of stars and a four light seconds away the planet hung, New Gudrun was a relatively dusty world, with a thin temperate band around its equator. And around it, a fleet of ships hung. "Sensors, what do we have."
"Imperial fleet. Lead by the Throne of Man... We have twelve orbital stations around the planet sir. They look like modified Empress class space stations?" The clone leading that section called out. Thrawn moved over to the section above them and the clone passed up a datapad with the details on board. And the details were sparse. And while there were similarities, they were few. Ignoring the gothic structure, there were no landing platforms, instead massive turrets occupied the place they would have been.
And as they watched, the nearest facilities were already turning their turrets to bear on the fleet. "Activate communications." He ordered and waited until he got confirmation that the channel was open. "I am Admiral Thrawn of the Grand Army of the Republic, I wish an audience with Lord Hydraxius."
Thrawn waited, knowing it would take four seconds for his own message to travel the distances, and four more for a return message. But there was no such delay. "Admiral, the 'Throne of Man' has come about to our heading and its drives are burning hard." He studied the move and pondered it, was it to remove itself from the gravity well of the planet for a hyperspace jump? Or even one of their own stranger warp jumps? It turned out the answer was neither.
"This is Master of the Fleet Archibald Castigatus von Wolseley. You may approach to a high anchor of a hundred thousand kilometres from New Gudrun. Once there please lower shields and broadcast the location of the Admiral and anyone joining him on his venture to the Rapturous Glory of Profit for the Throne of Man." The instructions included a data packet showing them their assigned 'high anchor'.
"Sensors, give me as much information as you can." The men went to work studying their screens and transcribing as much relevant information as they could consider to datapad. "Helm, bring us to their high anchor." He studied the flagship heading their direction and frowned as he pondered the question to himself. Were they rising to meet him in battle, and why were the escort vessels not matching its formation. The distances involved were far too...
They were in formation Thrawn realised. The other vessels were in fact rising with their flagship, but the range of their formation was enormous, far greater than the typical engagments would warrant. But these were not typical opponents, their own doctrines were vastly different. He knew based on observed encounters that his own starfighter and even bomber complements were almost useless, the distance they would need to cross would leave them exposed to long ranged fire. Luminara had arrived on the bridge and offered no commentary until now. "Admiral, do you intend to obey their restriction and lower your shield?"
"Of course." He answered almost absently. "I have requested to visit with the master of that ship, and we have no hostile intent." And as the fleet closed he felt no concern, even as they adjusted their own course to fit in the high anchor allocated to them. "I wonder why they have asked for it however." He admitted. Every minute threatened to raise the tensions further, and yet, the tensions never truly manifested. The vessel continued its approach until they were within ten thousand kilometres at which thrusters concealed to its fore ignited like chained suns and moved to arrest the massive momentum of the capital vessel and settle it into a stable orbit. "Lower shields, transmit my location."
Luminara suddenly went white. Not pale, but white as all light seemed to bleed out of the universe and then it was replaced with a kalaedoscope of colours, barrages of mental and emotional energy washed over their unprotected forms as it seemed to blink through every spectrum of light, and light that was impossible, so much so Thrawn's mind refused to process that he had even witnessed anything before with a crash of thunder they appeared in a chamber. Above them the turning machinery slowly began to grind down to a slow halt, arcing ruby lightning that left their afterimages not in his sight, but in his soul. And yet when they were gone, so to seemed to be the mark on his mind.
Before him stood a tall, beautiful woman who radiated danger to him. He recognised her image from the reports passed onto him by Palpatine. Gwendolyn, the matriarch of the House.
"Permission to come aboard Lady Gwendolyn Diana Montcroix Von Hydraxius. I am Admiral Mitthraw'Nuruodo of the Grand Army of the Republic." He noted that, for all her nobility, she had a weapon on each hip, and moved like she was born to use them.
Her own expression seemed almost affronted. But it faded to a diplomatic politeness. "Welcome on board the Throne of Man. You have my lords permission to board." She turned and he moved to follow, noting the utterly massive bulked out humanoids who served as her bodyguard. He suspected they were less dangerous than she. But Thrawn was studying everything as he moved behind her into the ship. He often told people that you could learn a lot by studying their art. A myth that he had carefully cultivated to conceal the fact he simply wasn't as stupid as others, merely observant. There was a taste of truth to the statement of course. But to argue a species could be assessed wholly based on its art was a foolish argument.
And he was glad of that. For as they moved through the halls of this ship, he saw things that did worry him greatly. The reports had little practicable information, and he had thought the information the strangers had provided would have been greatly editorialised to highlight how good and powerful they were. "I wished to learn more about your people, in such a short span you have introduced some significant changes into the galaxy." And his breath was taken away as they stepped through into an actual art gallery. There was nothing holographic or fake here. And then he realised what he was seeing. A trophy room. Items taken in conquest, military or in trade. "Lord Hydraxius is a connoisseur of the arts?"
She smiled genuinely then. "Not particularly if you would like the truth Admiral. I have more of an affinity for arts than he does, but maintaining a collection of fine art is an affectation common among Rogue Traders, it shows a sophistication to others, and is a source of fine gifts to impress those who need to be impressed."
He nodded, "A tactical and strategic decision then?" She smiled, for the first time with feeling behind it and nodded.
"Exactly." She continued before Thrawn stopped by another of the exhibits.
"This is exquisite... I've never seen a statue quite like this. Extremely lifelike." He leaned closer, and felt the finer hairs on his arms lifting from some sort of static field.
Gwendolyn moved in and carefully pulled the Admiral back. "Gothrian Gor, a Broodmaster of the Rak'gol. He was defeated in battle some seventy years ago, its last request was that Arthurius kill it and show he had honour. Gothrian and his clan of pirates had marauded our worlds for almost fifty years before we pinned him down. For his crimes Arthurius declared that Gothrian would never be allowed to die, only stand in stasis forever and watch the wealth of von Hydraxius build up around him. That he would forever be the least of the trophies we took."
"He is... aware?" Thrawn said with academic interest.
Gwendolyn shrugged. "Based on our knowledge and experiences, those in stasis are rarely aware of their surrounds, years or decades may be but a single second to the occupant of a stasis field." So they were vindictive and spiteful, that could be useful. Though he was aware of some of this already given their reaction to Zygerrians and the Hutts. It was then he noticed another item. An intact Hutt Skeleton.
"I see, you have an excellent collection. It looks well cared for." He remarked before stopping before a small book. "Can you tell me of this one?"
"A copy of the Byhata, the Vitrian Art of War." She said checking the plaque. "It is considered a capital offence by the Vitrians to allow an outsider to read it."
He raised an eyebrow, "Were they notable strategists?"
"Acceptable. The contents of it are hardly revolutionary and are far too rigid to be of use outside of a relatively narrow field of war. House Hydraxius obtained that..." She checked the plaque once more, "four thousand and twenty three years ago, it's relative rarity make it a collectors item. And with what happened to us, that is magnified by quite a lot given that Vitria no longer exists, yet."
Thrawn raised an eyebrow, "And if I wished to purchase it from you?"
Gwendolyn cocked her head slightly. "That is a matter for Arthurius' discretion."
He nodded and as they continued he asked another question, "If I may be bold, was this supposed to impress me?" She surprised him by smiling.
"It is rather transparent. And it generally works with more... political figures. Though our trophy room has something for most, more... martial... men and women are less effected by the opulence on display. Master Unduli," She said turning to the Jedi Master for a moment, "I apologise for neglecting you, I know you did not get a chance to visit our vessel during your last encounter with us over Hutt Space."
"I understand very well Lady Hydraxius, but I am a passive observer here, Admiral Thrawn was the one who wished to meet with Lord Hydraxius." She answered.
"Well let's not keep anyone waiting." Gwendolyn answered. And Thrawn turned to Luminara.
"If I may Master Jedi, I must speak with Lord Hydraxius alone." The look on her face was one of surprise. But she was a patient woman, and thoughtful, and nodded.
"I will ask a rating to take you to the guest quarters Masted Jedi," Their host said, indicating a man in an alcove.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Thrawn was promptly lead into the vast library that seemed to be the Lords private meeting room for when he needed to see guests in complete privacy. He moved along the bottom shelf studying the titles of the books there, recalling the flash education on the Imperial's languages and writings. They were many and their topics seemed to range from elusive to the very clear, from the Spheres of Longing by someone called Gideon Ravenor to a treatise on orbital warfare by a Lord Admiral Ravensburg next to a History of the Gothic War.
"Welcome to my vessel Admiral Thrawn." The Chiss admiral studied the human with a critical eye and, to his surprise, saw someone who was a kindred spirit. He was reading reports on dataslates and seemed to be dividing his attention three ways between them, yet Thrawn also felt like he was the focus of the mans attention. He recognised the tactic, to throw a man off by feigning disinterest, working on something else. "How can I help you, how can I help you in a way that requires you to send away Master Unduli?"
"The Far Outsiders." He said plainly and saw the man put down his report and look up straight into his own eyes. So few humans seemed able to look him in the eyes, his respect for the man grew. "I am told that you have brought up prophecies of something coming from beyond the edge of the galaxy?"
"No, we conducted auguries using the Emperor's Tarot, which acts as a psychic focus for prescient abilities, it is imperfect and doesn't convey much detail, they are not prophecies. There is a threat beyond the galaxy that is already heading here, and probably has advance elements already in the galaxy." He picked up a dataslate and handed it to Gwendolyn who studied it before passing it to Thrawn. "I don't expect you to understand."
Thrawn nodded in agreement. He didn't understand, but the prescient abilities of Palpatine had lead to his attack on the Outbound Flight and destroying it to prevent the Far Outsiders finding them. "What you are saying is that they are already coming, perhaps already here?"
"Based on our intelligence yes." Arthurius leaned back in his chair. "Which is why this war is very important."
That made Thrawn blink. "I am listening."
"The people running the war in this galaxy have a significant lapse in knowledge and experience in waging war. The use of Jedi as leaders for the Clone army was itself a colossal error in judgement, the battle for Geonosis that bloodied them involved them being thrown at the Separatists across an open field, costing fully half the lives of all those deployed. The Jedi were peacekeepers, not generals and leaders. And now not only are they leading troops, but they're actually using children as leaders as well! While there is nothing wrong with building the experience of the young in conflict, you must not give them leadership." Arthurius said and Thrawn assessed his words, they were true, and matched many of his own private thoughts on the matter.
"On the other side of the war there is no less foolish decisions being made. The sheer number of Droids should enable the Confederacy to obtain significant victories with little real chance of the much smaller GAR opposing them." He shook his head. "No, we have a galaxy of relatively poor strategic and tactical minds who have stagnated without conflict. They cannot resist the threat to come. But you already knew that."
"I did." Thrawn answered. "But my benefactor is increasingly concerned about your actions. You have disrupted a number of his plans already, plans that were intended to bring us to a point where the galaxy was unified against the threat. "
Arthurius nodded. "But that isn't what we are going to need Admiral Thrawn. We need experienced, bloodied and determined forces." He stood suddenly and Thrawn saw another man in the room one he hadn't seen before who had been whispering into the Rogue Trader's ear. "We do not intend to move against the CIS or Republic. I intend to take this threat from beyond the Galaxy and burn it to ashes."
Besides being blue he looks nothing like a Tau...