Chapter Text
Parck knew it would be hard. But he did not realize how hard. He commanded his own ship for more than fifteen years; however, he spent most of his captain’s career under Thrawn’s leadership. And it seemed that Thrawn could solve any problem.
The Admiral wearily rubbed the bridge of his nose and put the datapad on the table. There was not any news from Thrawn, although, he had not promised to write letters either. Apparently, he was sure that in a short time of his absence Parck would manage with this circus and would not break up the Empire, which was neatly put together piece by piece.
The man leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. Yes, Thrawn was always confident inwhat he was doing. When Parck found the Chiss on that unknown planet, he was nothing but a stranger in the xenophobic Empire; however, he single-handedly defeated several soldiers and penetrated his ship, as if he knew that such an interesting person would surely receive an invitation to visit the capital. Parck at that moment thought only about the reward, which he would receive himself for delivering the Chiss to the Emperor and had no idea that this “gift” would affect on his career and life so much.
Despite the fact that the Emperor himself had favored the Chiss, the path to the rank of the Grand Admiral Thrawn made on his own. And then he had been ostensibly banished again. “Either Thrawn did not want to go into politics that much, or it was his favorite trick – to do something huge you need to get out as far as you can where it would be just impossible to monitor and control you,” grinned Parck.
In high places, Thrawn was never welcomed and was grinned at maliciously when he made a miscalculation in his “treacherous palace games”, which provided the Chiss, and with him also Parck and some of other officers, a trip to the Unknown Regions. However, the captain knew from the beginning the true purpose of their mission. Thrawn decided to share with him and that did not happen often. Usually the Chiss liked to keep his ideas and plans to himself. Later, Parck also had to open the veil of the secrecy to some officers, who were not delighted at all by the idea of ending their careers somewhere in the outskirts of the Galaxy. However, even Parck’s stories about theirs ambitious goal could inspire great things far from all. And Voss could not blame them for that. To get an appointment even to Wild Space, one must make a huge mistake. And when, as a reward for years of impeccable service, you were sent somewhere where to meet a creature who understood Basic was a great luck, so this could cause obvious displeasure and even hatred toward the foreigner who was stuck here for some strange reason.
By this time, Parck had already learned to trust the Chiss, and therefore simply followed his orders and asked almost no questions – Thrawn would not explain anyway. You either would understand the elegance of the tactics yourself, or you could chalk it up to the fact that the Chiss made his plan based on the analysis of the piece of clay and you just were not an art critic. So even when Thrawn announced that he would go with him to the edge of the Galactic life, and with such a bonus as demotion to the rank of commander, Parck knew that arguing was useless – the Chiss had already decided everything.
Now he was the Admiral. But he clearly remembered how he had boarded the Admonitor and left the Empire. Even then, he realized that it was unlikely for him to return. Now he knew it almost certainly. The Empire, however, did not forget about its “exiles”. Well, at least the Emperor did not. In accordance of their “exploration”, new ships and new personnel joined them. The pledges were always equally surprised that their mission was far more than only to map the new stars, planets and hyperspace routes to the holomaps. And shortly after settling on Nirauan, they were contacted by the warriors of Thrawn’s people, who wished to serve the Syndic Mitth’raw’nuruodo and to become part of the new Empire. A little later, however, it turned out that the incoming Chiss were not a gesture of the goodwill of the Ascendancy, but “the warriors who disagreed with the passive military doctrine of the Ascendancy and therefore decided to follow the way of Mitth’raw’nuruodo and to leave the Chiss space and to protect it personally” – as they proudly informed Thrawn. Although, as Parck remembered, their speech was far more solemn as if the blue-skinned had pre-verified every word and rehearsed it every evening. At first, the perspective to work with such proud warriors did not cause any optimism in him. However, the Chiss always followed orders, did everything impeccably and in the best possible way and usually did not intersect with Parck because Thrawn decided to lead his compatriots personally, and therefore Parck decided that there was no cause for concern about the Chiss.
Around the same time, their… formation had received its name – the Empire of the Hand. Parck accurately remembered that its source was the form of the Nirauan’s fortress, which from the air looked like a palm, stretched to the sky. Although he was sure for a long time, that Thrawn would choose something more… majestic. However, either the Chiss liked such a reference or he did not care much.
In the process of the exploration the territory grew, military academies and outposts were established , and treaties with local sentient inhabits were concluded . Some of them needed to be persuaded by force. Although, how the ones could be named Sentient creatures, when they, placed on the bunch of the small ships, quite seriously transmitted to the ISD angry messages with demands to get out from their territories or meet a painful death, Parck did not understand.
There were also especially difficult cases, the biggest of which was probably Nuso Esva. This “chosen one” pretty quickly conquered large numbers of systems and began to encroach on the territory of the Empire, but Thrawn caught him even there. It took almost ten years to inflict him with the final defeat. By that time, Parck began to doubt whether this war became a personal vendetta for Thrawn, which would bring him to a fatal mistake. But even this insect did not become an insurmountable obstacle for the Chiss. It seemed that there was no such obstacle for Thrawn at all.
Shortly after the final battle against Nuso Esva, Thrawn announced that he had to temporarily leave the Unknown Regions and bring order to the main part of the Galaxy where the rebels, or as they now called themselves – the New Republic, established their authority.
And all this for the highest goal – to protect the Galaxy from the absolute evil. Or not the whole Galaxy exactly?
Parck remembered Thrawn’s words that he would do everything in his power to protect his people. That allies were needed either to battle side by side or to create a distraction so you could gather your own forces. Palpatine’s Empire was a weapon for Thrawn to protect his people, to protect the Chiss. What place in his plans was given to the Empire of the Hand, Parck could not say for sure, but he hoped that Thrawn had a better role for them.
The Admiral heaved a deep sigh and rose. All his thoughts were reduced to something negative. However, considering the previous days, there were reasons for that. The only encouragement was the fact that Thrawn hardly left the Hand for long. It was a hard time for the Galactic Empire, but the newly-born Republic was still weak and certainly none of them had Thrawn’s genius. So Parck was sure that all the responsibilities of managing the Hand had fell on him only temporary.
However, it was unlikely that current problems could wait until the syndic’s return. While the Chiss brought order to the Galactic Empire, Parck was entrusted with order in the Empire of the Hand. Thrawn believed that Parck could handle his creation. And Thrawn had never been wrong.
The situation was saved by the fact that Parck also had someone to rely on. During their war with local dictators, the legendary baron Soontir Fel joined them, who at first also did not feel very enthusiastic. He had changed sides in the war, joining the rebels, and did not want to return to the Empire. However, Thrawn managed to convince him, and now the best pilot in the Galaxy was training soldiers for the Hand.
How Thrawn was able to entice anyone he wished, Parck did not understand. Was it the long conversations about the coming evil, durasteel arguments about why your place was here, or the torture with art? Whatever methods Thrawn used, they always worked flawlessly.
Although, there were only a few humans in the fortress – the garrison of the Hand almost entirely consisted of the Chiss’ warriors, which continued to come from the Ascendancy. Parck did not know much about Thrawn’s arrangement with the Ruling Families, but it was clear that the Chiss which arrived now did not leave the Ascendancy arbitrarily like the first who appeared on Nirauan. Perhaps someone in the Ascendancy still supported and trusted Thrawn. Well, or believed that the spent resources were worthwhile. Or maybe it was the semi-official way to cover the leak of the most vehement Chiss from the Ascendancy.
In addition to Fel, one of the Chiss also played a significant role in the Empire. Parck did not know well the commander Kres’ten’tarthi. Earlier, the Chiss was a member of Fel’s personal squadron and should havel proven himself if Thrawn trusted him with the Phalanx of his house. And since Stent now was directly responsible for all the Chiss, Parck realized that he had to get used to him and reckon with his opinion.
Voss went to the window. There was quiet outside – the Chiss made a good impression of an empty fortress. Of course, Nirauan was well guarded and outsiders had no chance to achieve the fortress without the knowledge of its inhabitants, but there were no harm in the extra precautionary measures. Thrawn wanted as few creatures as possible to know about the existence of the Hand. The desire was very understandable. They had pretty good resources and it would be better not to make the temptation to someone to cease all of it in one's’ own property.
He heard footsteps and turned. Behind the driven door stood a Chiss who stood perfectly straight, clearly reported to Parck that he was expected at the command post of the hangar. The man frowned. Usually all supplies were taken without his participation and the matters of the fighters were in Fel’s conduct. The Chiss had no information of the reasons of that need and having obtained permission, quickly disappeared.
Parck turned to the window. The Grand Admiral would deal with this Alliance soon, restore the Empire and return, taking, most likely, new ships and soldiers with him. It was also possible that the two Empires would unite under the command of Thrawn. And for now Parck’s task was to save Thrawn’s creation despite all the problems, one of which was waiting for him at this moment at the command post of the hangar…