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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Saga - PT Spacer Slicer Sponger Spy | Thrawn, OC, post-Rebels | Short story, fic-gift for Nehru_Amidala

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction- Before, Saga, and Beyond' started by Chyntuck, Dec 29, 2017.

  1. Chyntuck

    Chyntuck Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 11, 2014
    Thank you all for reading and reviewing!

    I'm doing a mostly-group reply for Nehru_Amidala, mavjade and WarmNyota_SweetAyesha to say that I had a lot of fun imagining Thrawn in daddy mode. There's something just so unlike him, and yet very like him, in the idea that he would be carrying an infant around the house and telling her stories.
    You think so? We'll see [face_mischief] I think that I have a surprise in store for the "who's the baddie" bit of this fic and I'm curious to see if anyone will guess.
    That will be my great pleasure! It won't be just yet, but there's a chapter down the line where describing Rhiannon will fit perfectly.
    Now this ^^^ was one of the very first ideas that came to me when I received Nehru's request. If I had to guess Thrawn's favourite authors from Earth, my money would be on John le Carré and Agatha Christie. He would be reading the novels and playing at figuring out the end from chapter 1!

    Thanks again for your kind comments, and thanks to everyone who stopped by to read! Next chapter coming right up.
     
  2. Chyntuck

    Chyntuck Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 11, 2014
    The Cookie Factory


    Operation Cookie Factory?!?

    Minerva stared at the message’s subject line in disbelief. There was something truly jarring to the humorous code names that Fava Fasolia Faké’s henchmen chose for each operation, especially in comparison to the dry, succinct content of their communications – the text was usually limited to a set of coordinates. She had tried several times to divine the hidden meaning behind the code names, but to no avail. The foodstuffs she was asked to ferry from one place of interstellar space to another were far too generic to give her any indication as to their provenance, and all her efforts to identify the food processing facility or agricultural warehouse that had been raided by the Crymorah had been in vain. The fact that the Imperial authorities were censoring HoloNet news reports about the sustained onslaught they were facing meant that there were no further clues she could build upon.

    She sat back in the pilot’s chair with a sigh. Her primary mission was to find out where the Crymorah was hoarding food, not which cookie factory they had stolen it from, she reminded herself. She punched the new set of coordinates she had just received into the navigation computer and, once her freighter was in hyperspace, she made sure to put away the starcharts and anything else that could indicate the true nature of her activities before she reached the rendezvous point.

    The Crymorah’s flagship, the Pride of Nal Hutta, was waiting for her in one of the locations the mobsters seemed to favour, a quiet area of space a few parsecs away from a minor hyperlane in the Mid Rim. The massive cruiser’s hangar bay was wide open, like a giant reptile’s maw ready to swallow its prey. She landed her ship carefully on the pad that the spacecraft marshaller indicated and sat back once more to wait. A YT-1300 light freighter was still loading cargo and its captain – a cocky-looking Human whose trousers bore what appeared to be Corellian bloodstripes – seemed to be negotiating the finer details of his pay with the logistics manager. It was standard procedure in Crymorah operations that cargo pilots never got to meet each other, and this suited Minerva just fine. If she ever ran into a smuggler who knew the real Ricka Katram, the game would be up.

    A tall, shaggy Wookiee suddenly appeared in her field of vision, followed by a half dozen binary loadlifters that he was guiding towards the YT-1300. Minerva discreetly reoriented her freighter’s camera towards the little procession and captured a few holos. Perhaps the markings on the boxes that the droids were carrying would give her an idea as to the nature of the cargo that the Corellian ship was loading for transport. She had to force herself not to look at the holos straight away. She was already taking enough risks as things were.

    The Human with the bloodstripes and his Wookiee companion boarded their ship and flew away, and Ricka Katram’s turn to gather the goods she would be ferrying to an unknown destination came. Minerva slipped on her helmet and, like every time she participated in a cargo transfer, she limited her interactions with the hangar crew to the bare minimum. Soon her fifty sleight boxes were full of durra protein powder and stacked in the hold, and she was given clearance to leave. She noticed another line of binary loadlifters trudging into the hangar bay and risked snapping a holo as she took off. Minutes later she was once more safely in hyperspace.

    She pulled up the holos and let out a small victory whoop. The crates loaded on the Corellian freighter contained stim-enriched sucre, that much was obvious from the labelling. On the other hand, the snapshot she’d caught on her way out of the Pride of Nal Hutta was blurry, but not so blurry that the context wouldn’t allow her to decipher the markings: sitar flour. And it was quite obvious to her what the combination of sitar flour, durra protein and stim-enriched sucre meant: the Crymorah had raided the food processing plant on Heung Gong, twenty-three parsecs away from the rendezvous point. The plant that produced high-energy biscuits for Imperial stormtroopers was indeed, in its own way, a cookie factory.

    This wasn’t important because she had identified the target of the Crymorah’s latest raid. It was important because it told her that the criminal syndicate was confident enough in its operational security that it organised cargo transfers so close to the targets it raided. She programmed the data terminal to cross-check the list of all rendezvous points with the list of every foodstuff she had been tasked to transport and the list of all agro-processing plants, and, once the machine beeped and whirred to signal that the search query was running, she extracted her starchart from its hiding compartment and plotted on it the destination coordinates that had been uploaded to her navigation computer.

    She stared at the chart in awe for a moment. This was the clue she had been missing so far. If the Crymorah arranged transfer points close to the cargo’s final destination, like they arranged transfer points close to the targets… there was only one possible location for the warehouse where all the foodstuffs were hoarded.

    She swept her freighter for monitoring devices once more. Once she was certain that no new bugs had been introduced during her short stay on the Pride of Nal Hutta, she made sure that the old ones were adequately jammed. Without further ado, she encrypted a message for Thrawn and reverted to realspace to transmit it.

    The warehouse is on Ando Prime. Will contact you after delivery. Much love to Rhiannon and you.

    Now she needed to sabotage the engine cleverly enough to justify dropping out of hyperspace in the middle of a cargo run.
     
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  3. WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

    WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Aug 31, 2004
    Cool in passing encounter with the Falcon & yay! Minerva's sleuthing has paid off with a solid answer as to where. Details as to why and who will doubtless follow. I do not think that the motivation is high-end snack foods. ;) =D=
     
  4. Nehru_Amidala

    Nehru_Amidala Force Ghost star 7

    Registered:
    Oct 3, 2016
    Your updates are among the highlights of my week, and this was waiting for me when I got home from work. Loved this installment, of course Han and Chewie would be smuggling for the Hutts, he's not yet met his future family (Luke and Leia). Loved Minerva putting two and two together from one stained box, looks like Han missed something. I look forward to the next chapter.
     
  5. AzureAngel2

    AzureAngel2 Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 14, 2005
    Argh, now I am extremely vexed. I was low on energy the past weeks, saving the best for work and the rest for my husband, family matters and RL friends.

    Fanfic is like the box of Pandora. Nope. More like a cookie jar that needs to keep closed by all means. Too much temptation! And I already have so many old duties piling up in here. If I was not ill, I would be helping my mother with my father´s belongings, scattered over 3 places. A task my older brother could never do, because he has trouble to let go. I can be a bit like Kylo Ren when I have to.

    [​IMG]

    I wish you would be a lesser fan fic author and I could ignore this fanfic gift, but then the name Thrawn fell and Minerva. And I was intrigued. Curiosity will be my downfall one day!

    I was always able to stay off drugs in grammar school & those mad weekend competitions, because I had this love for good stories, music, movies, art and, helaas, chocolate.

    In the end I am as greedy as little Rhiannon here.

    (And the name. This is a must for a woman like me, even though I am not overly fond of horses and more into owls & ravens. Sigh!)

    Plus, I loved the re-make of the movie with
    The worst thing here, you write like Esmeralda dances, @Chyntuck. It is perfection of the art.
     
  6. Mistress_Renata

    Mistress_Renata Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 9, 2000
    I think only you could have done justice to a challenge this tricky, @Chyntuck. And this:
    Couldn't have put it better!

    Guess I'd better put LeCarre on my reading list. I've not even cracked Victor Hugo yet!
     
  7. Chyntuck

    Chyntuck Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 11, 2014
    Thank you all for reading and reviewing! A few replies before I post chapter 5.

    @WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Thanks! I couldn't resist slipping Han and Chewie in here. I even considered making this the lost shipment that put them in debt to Jabba, but that would have taken me away from my main plot.

    @Nehru_Amidala Thank you! I'm glad you're still enjoying this story. I'm trying to update frequently but it's more difficult now that I'm back at work. I should be able to manage twice a week though. As for Minerva's observation and mapmaking skills, that's obviously something I pillaged from your story. I really wanted to manage a mention of it here!

    @AzureAngel2 As always, your comments make me [face_blush] I also loved the Tinker Tailor movie with Gary Oldman; he was an excellent George Smiley and I really enjoyed the fact that they replaced Hong Kong with Istanbul. I don't know if you've seen the miniseries with Alec Guiness; it's a very cool adaptation as well. Thanks for dropping by!

    @Mistress_Renata Thank you and welcome to this story [:D] You MUST MUST MUST put John le Carré on your reading list, just next to Victor Hugo. He writes fantastic spy fiction if you're into that genre, and his Cold War-era novels in particular are real page-turners. I borrowed the broad strokes of Tinker Tailor for this story, actually!

    Thanks again for the reviews, and thanks to everyone who stopped by to read. Chapter 5 is on the way!
     
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  8. Chyntuck

    Chyntuck Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 11, 2014
    Ballet de Suburbia


    The open-air market on Ando Prime was a sprawling complex of arcades and alleys carved into the ice, where each stall was sheltered by an igloo-like structure built of blocks of compressed snow. It reminded Thrawn of his early years on Csilla, with the difference that the Chiss considered coating the structures with a layer of thermal insulator an unnecessary luxury. The Ando Prime market, on the other hand, was fully insulated, which allowed the geosolar combisystem to blow warm air into the streets and make the shopkeepers’ and customers’ experience that much more comfortable. By the time Thrawn reached the central rotunda, he had unbuttoned his winter coat, granting Rhiannon a far better view of her surroundings. The infant was now pointing left and right and gurgling excitedly, and many a passer-by stopped to return her smile or admire the periwinkle hue of her skin and the thick locks of dark hair that curled out of her bonnet.

    It was the large holoposter topping the kiosk in the middle of the rotunda that had caught the child’s interest. While Thrawn would have preferred his daughter not to draw any attention to them even with her smiles, he was fully aware that upsetting her when she was in this mood might result in a tantrum, which would, in turn, cause every shopper in the area to stare at them, to recognise the former grand admiral and to notice that he was out and about without his wife. He gave his cowl a casual tug to ensure that his face was deeply buried in its folds, took a few steps towards the kiosk and began to explain to Rhiannon what they were seeing.

    The holoposter announced the arrival on planet of the famed Ballet de Suburbia, a dance company from the Outer Rim. The title of their new show was Ice Dance, which in and of itself explained why they had chosen Ando Prime for the premiere, seeing as ice was a plentiful commodity on this world. As newlyweds, Thrawn and Minerva had had the opportunity to attend one of the troupe’s previous performances on Coruscant, and they had both found that the spectacle was enchanting. The Chiss was making a mental note of the date of the show, thinking that it would be a good opportunity for a second outing for his daughter this week, when a somewhat familiar voice spoke. He looked up to see that the employee inside the kiosk was addressing Rhiannon.

    “Will you come to the Ice Dance, little one?” the young man asked dotingly. “It’s the perfect show for a baby like you, full of sounds and colours. You’ll love it!”

    He handed Thrawn a holosheet that bore the flyer for the event. “Here are the details, sir,” he added. “This is a much-anticipated celebration. The great Fava Fasolia Faké is sponsoring it herself with free hot chocolate for the audience, and you know how rare hot chocolate is these days. I’m also told that everybody who is anybody in the Empire will be coming from Coruscant. Grand Moff Tarkin has already confirmed that he will be in attendance, and I dare hope that the Emperor himself will make time for us – although I know that he is very busy, of course.”

    It was the offhand mention of Grand Moff Tarkin that made the credit drop for Thrawn, who had been wondering why the man came across as familiar. He took the flyer and thanked the employee politely, stepped away from the kiosk and, talking continuously to distract Rhiannon, he made his way back to his speeder. As soon as he was home, he prepared his daughter’s midday bottle, fed her patiently and laid her in her crib for a nap. The excitement of the trip to the market had exhausted her and she fell asleep on the spot.

    This thankfully gave Thrawn a little time to think, and he had a great deal to think about. There were simply too many coincidences. First, Tarkin had exiled him to the planet where the chief suspect behind the Crymorah’s food hoarding scheme had a secondary residence, the very planet where she was known to be at the moment. Second, Tarkin was coming to this same planet, together with the rest of the Imperial elite – which presumably included Yularen, Ison, Pryce and Turuy – for an event organised and sponsored by Fava Fasolia Faké. And, last by not least, the man who was running the kiosk for cultural events on Ando Prime was none other than one of Tarkin’s junior aides.

    Tarkin was clearly up to something.

    One possibility was that he was in league with the Hutt crime lord, and that his coming to Ando Prime was a friendly visit to his co-conspirator. This was however highly unlikely. Not only was Tarkin well-known for his fanatical devotion to the Empire, but he was no amateur in intelligence matters. He was partial to the idea that conducting intelligence ops in plain sight was the best way to keep them inconspicuous, but he knew Thrawn well enough to understand that the Chiss would take note of his presence anywhere near Fava Fasolia Faké. If Tarkin was one of the crime lord’s confederates, he would not have exiled Thrawn to Ando Prime and he would certainly not have put one of his aides in the role of a lowly employee of the local cultural service.

    Which led Thrawn to a second possibility: Tarkin, like Thrawn, suspected that a member of the task force investigating the Crymorah was a traitor, and he had somehow prompted Fava to organise and sponsor the Ballet de Suburbia’s performance in order to bring all the suspects to Ando Prime and to observe their dealings with the Hutt during the festivities.

    What remained to be seen was if Thrawn should count himself among Tarkin’s suspects, or if the Grand Moff had removed him from the task force to lure the culprit into a false sense of security. However, this was a secondary matter. If Tarkin intended to uncover the traitor during the Ice Dance show, Thrawn was more than happy to lend him a helping hand.

    He scribbled a few words on the flyer, scanned it and attached it to his encrypted message to Minerva: We need a trap.

    He then settled comfortably in the study and continued to read Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. He didn’t expect to receive an answer for several hours, and he was pleasantly surprised when the holocom beeped to signal an incoming communication before Rhiannon even awoke from her nap.

    Leave it to me. I’ll be home soon.
     
    Last edited: Jan 15, 2018
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  9. WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

    WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Aug 31, 2004
    Happy wriggles, the plot thickens! =D= The second possibility is definitely more likely, that Tarkin is trying to unearthe the guilty party by getting all the suspects in one place. Will be eager to see Minerva and Thrawn working as a team. ;) @};-
     
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  10. AzureAngel2

    AzureAngel2 Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 14, 2005
    He then settled comfortably in the study and continued to read Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. He didn’t expect to receive an answer for several hours, and he was pleasantly surprised when the holocom beeped to signal an incoming communication before Rhiannon even awoke from her nap.

    Ha, ha, Thrawny reads the book this fic is based on. What for a bow towards the original author! I also like his attentive Chiss daddy modus. And even their offspring does emotional blackmail in a way with tantrums.
     
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  11. Nehru_Amidala

    Nehru_Amidala Force Ghost star 7

    Registered:
    Oct 3, 2016
    This was such a cute chapter, I love Thrawn in daddy!mode, and Rhiannon is too adorable not to draw attention. I was surprised Tarkin would show up, let the fireworks commence!
     
  12. mavjade

    mavjade Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 10, 2005
    Ack! I missed an update!

    They were both fantastic! I really enjoy how it's Minerva is the one out in danger and Thrawn is -which trying to work things out- the one at home with the baby. He continues to be adorable with her!

    I love this inclusion of Han and Chewie. Even though everyone reading would know exactly who you are talking about, it kinda gives a little thrill of 'Hey! I know that guy!" feeling.

    This made me chuckle because even though he was thinking it and didn't say it, I heard it in this deep booming voice in my head. Yep, Tarkin is clearly up to shenanigans.

    =D=
     
  13. Chyntuck

    Chyntuck Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 11, 2014
    Thank you all for reading and reviewing! A few replies before I post chapter 6.

    @WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Thank you! Indeed, Tarkin isn't one to be fooled, and there's a reason why he organised things this way.

    @AzureAngel2 Thanks! I'm having fun with the meta aspect of this fic. If Nehru hadn't asked specifically for the *first edition* of Tinker Tailor, I probably wouldn't have thought of having Thrawn reading the book, but once I thought of it I found it made perfect sense.

    @Nehru_Amidala Thank you! I'm having a great time writing daddy!Thrawn. It's almost like Tarkin expected that Thrawn would go to the market with Rhiannon and wanted to get a message to him, isn't it?

    @mavjade Thank you, and no worries at all about missing updates! I know that I'm posting often but I want Nehru to get the entirety of her fic-gift before next year. To me it made sense that Thrawn would be the one to stay at home, because he's usually in the role of the mastermind who pulls the strings, but the fact that Nehru wanted Rhiannon in the story added an unexpected twist for me. I'm glad you enjoyed the Han and Chewie cameo; there's another (mention-only) cameo in the upcoming chapter.

    Thanks again for the reviews and thanks to everyone who dropped by to read. The next chapter is on its way.
     
  14. Chyntuck

    Chyntuck Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 11, 2014
    Eliskandro the Barber


    “I don’t get it,” Minerva said. “It’s an open-air show. We’ll be muffled up in coats and hats and scarves.”

    “Indeed we will.”

    “Then why do I need to have my hair done? And why is it so important that you’re neatly shaven today, of all days – by a Hutt barber, no less?”

    Thrawn smiled. “Ah, but this is not just any Hutt barber, darling. We are talking about a groomer of galactic reputation.”

    The young woman gave her husband an exasperated look and was about to let out an acid retort when the chime rang. “All will be revealed in time, my dear. For now,” – Thrawn palmed to the door’s activation panel, allowing the weather insulation plexi to slide open – “I suggest that you enjoy the care that the Fabulous Eliskandro has to offer.”

    “And you will not be disappointed!” the Hutt said exuberantly as he slithered into the house. He tipped his top hat in salutation. “Eliskandro Fasolia Faké, at your service. How can I be of assistance?”

    Minerva was so baffled by the hairdresser’s appearance that it took her a while to process his full name. It wasn’t every day that you saw a Hutt in a satin waistcoat complete with bow tie and pocket chrono, much less one whose lipless mouth was heavily made-up in flashy pink with a dark red outline. By the time she understood that he must be somehow related to Fava Fasolia Faké, a few seconds had gone by. Thrawn had to intervene.

    “We will have the privilege to attend the dance show that your cousin, in her munificence, organised for this planet,” he said politely. “We will be donning our Benduday best of course, but when I heard that you were on-planet I thought that my wife, our little daughter and I could treat ourselves to some of the luxuries you have to offer in addition to the endless supply of hot chocolate that was promised to the people of Ando Prime.”

    The Hutt huffed. “A wise decision, if I may say so. It appears that the supply of hot chocolate might not be endless after all, but I will do my best to uphold my kajidic’s honour in this unforeseen situation – and it will be a true pleasure to do so, as your wife’s hair is mahvelous, simply mahvelous. I take it that you, sir, are more inclined towards preserving the austere military look?”

    Thrawn smiled. “Indeed I am, but I have been suffering from dry skin after shaving since we came to this planet, and I am told that the products in your vanity case work miracles.”

    This was apparently the cue that the Hutt needed to open his case of cosmetics and launch into an enthusiastic monologue about the qualities of the galaxy’s foremost luxury houses. Minerva had her scalp rubbed with Ch’warss Copff’s All-Environment Serum before Eliskandro gathered her hair in an elaborate set of braids that he held up with Doltshe of Ghaban’s Fine Leather Head Bands – “these are normally used by Twi’leks to wrap their lekku, but you don’t mind, do you, dahling? We’ll add one of Sheesëdau’s Temp Tattoos on your forehead to complete the effect. Or maybe more than one, if that is acceptable.” Before she could even answer, he had conjured a vial of L’awreal Fur Glitter to sprinkle some on Rhiannon’s unruly mop – “an unorthodox approach, to be sure, and this chahming little lady doesn’t need any help to steal the show, but she should scintillate at least as much as Andoan snow, don’t you think?” – and he was already moving on to Thrawn. He manipulated his open razor with the quick, practised moves of a magician, he rubbed the Chiss’s cheeks with Jill Ett’s Humanoid Moisturising Balm – “you should keep the bottle, my dear sir, the weather on this planet is most inclement to your skin” – and he slithered back a little to admire his handiwork.

    “I do hope that your daughter and you can wear earmuffs instead of hats,” he told Minerva. “It would be a shame to hide such a magnificent hairstyle from view.”

    Minerva looked at herself in the mirror. She had the hairdo of a princess – Princess Leia of Alderaan was known to sport such elaborate braids – and her face was ornamented with floral patterns drawn in Gwerlayne Interstellar’s Mahogany Antiallergenic Henna. There was no way Fava Fasolia Faké could recognise Ricka Katram in this elegant woman, and she had to admit that there was a secret pleasure in feeling so stylish anyway. “This is wonderful, Eliskandro. I wish you had a salon here on Ando Prime; I would be coming every day.”

    The Hutt tipped his hat in acceptance of the compliment. “Alas, my only salon is in CoCo Town. But I do visit this planet frequently – family ties, you see. Although I am afraid that after today’s hot chocolate mishap, dahling Fava will go off-world for a while.”

    Minerva gave him her best curious innocent look. “What happened to the hot chocolate?”

    “Haven’t you heard? The freighter that was transporting the shipment of cocoa powder was attacked by pirates, or so Fava told me. Of course, she owns the largest private agro-processing business in the galaxy, so I’m sure that she has spare supplies stashed up somewhere – but she committed to hot chocolate for a crowd of thousands, and you know how scarce cocoa powder is these days.” He lowered his voice conspiratorially. “She was fuming, positively fuming, when I went to assist her with her morning spa today. She says that the Empire is failing at ensuring safe passage on the hyperlanes for honest traders like her; she intends to take it up with Grand Moff Tarkin himself.”

    The faintest of smiles played on Thrawn’s face. “But I am wasting your time with my endless blabber, and duty calls,” Eliskandro said with a sigh. “I have another client to attend to now, but it will be my great pleasure to see you again at the Ice Dance.” He tipped his hat once more and slithered towards the door.
     
    Last edited: Jan 18, 2018
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  15. WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

    WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Aug 31, 2004
    Always a treat to encounter Eliskandro =D= and he indeed has confirming news about the cocoa powder ;) and truly Minerva will not be recognized all glamorized up :D
     
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  16. AzureAngel2

    AzureAngel2 Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 14, 2005
    Eliskandro the Barber!!! What a treat!

    Now I will go do bed and dream of hairdos. In Leia style. Thank you!
     
  17. Nehru_Amidala

    Nehru_Amidala Force Ghost star 7

    Registered:
    Oct 3, 2016
    Nice, Leia's hairdo and henna tattoos. Sounds lovely, with shades of Sweeny Todd to boot. For some reason, I was imagining Eliskandro sounding like Jack Sparrow in my head while I was reading this. Glad to see Minerva cleared up her deal with Fava and is now back with her family, this story gets better and better. I do hope you get the chance to read my story, as I so enjoy reading yours. :)
     
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  18. mavjade

    mavjade Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 10, 2005
    Haha!! I love Eliskandro!! He's the best! :D
    I love how two fold this is for her. Yes, it will help keep her from being noticed as the one person she doesn't want to be noticed as, but that it also makes her feel good! I just really liked the idea that she was enjoying it.

    Sneaky, sneaky! But I like it!

    Great update!! I thought this was a lot of fun, I loved the descriptions!
     
  19. Chyntuck

    Chyntuck Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 11, 2014
    Thank you all for reading and reviewing! And sorry for not updating earlier, I've had exactly zero time this week, but I managed a new chapter.

    @WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Thank you! When I remembered that barber scene from Edward Scissorhands, my first thought was [face_idea] Eliskandro [face_idea]

    @AzureAngel2 Thanks! I don't think you should do a Leia hairstyle just before going to bed because it might not be so comfortable, but before the next comic con could work :D

    @Nehru_Amidala Thank you! Minerva is home now, so we'll get to see her and Thrawn operating as a team for real – with a little help from Rhiannon of course, because what would they be without Rhiannon? :p

    @mavjade Thanks! I definitely wanted Minerva to get some nice me-time at some point in this story; I've seen my cousins when their kids were very young and I think that every mother should be granted a day at the spa by law. And, yes, she's sneaky with her big, innocent eyes. Thrawn must have rubbed off on her!

    Thanks again for the reviews and thanks to everyone who stopped by to read! Chapter VII is on its way.
     
  20. Chyntuck

    Chyntuck Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 11, 2014
    Etiquette Lesson


    The location chosen by the Ballet de Suburbia for the premiere of the Ice Dance was a flat, open expanse of ice surrounded by small hillocks where the audience could stand for a panoramic view of the show. Access to the venue was through a tiny dale off the main road to town. Thrawn noted with a satisfied smile that loud complaints could already be heard coming from the refreshment stall, where dejected visitors were voicing their frustration at the absence of hot chocolate. The little family walked past the crowd and identified the mound of snow where ushers in turquoise coats were leading the guests who had recently arrived from Coruscant. The grey and olive green of Imperial uniforms stood out sharply against the dazzling white of the landscape. Minerva led the way up the slope. They were barely halfway to the top when a gloved hand appeared in her line of sight to help her in her ascent. She looked up and saw that Colonel Yularen was smiling at her.

    “It is a pleasure to see you, my dear,” the elderly man said with a warm smile. “And you, my friend,” he added with a nod at Thrawn, “and your lovely little daughter too. She must be very excited by such an outing. So many things happening, so many people to look at!”

    Rhiannon cooed happily and reached out to grab his moustache as he bowed to kiss her forehead. Minerva took advantage of the situation to insert a microchip in the folds of his scarf. They stood for a moment for a friendly chat – Yularen asked how they were adapting to Ando Prime and when Minerva would return to active duty – until the ISB colonel was called away by some of his colleagues. “Do let me know if there is any way I can help you in your current predicament,” he said, lowering his voice. “I truly hope that this awful misunderstanding will be sorted out and that I will see you both back in the Navy soon.”

    “I planted the chip,” Minerva whispered as soon as he was gone. “But I don’t think he’s the mole.”

    Thrawn remained impassive. “I do not think so either, but we must be thorough in our investigation, no matter how kind Colonel Yularen was to us today.”

    They wove their way through the crowd. Most Imperial officers stayed away from them, merely acknowledging their presence with a nod, and some deliberately gave them a wide berth. Their rejection upset Minerva deeply, and when Governor Tarkin sidestepped them she wanted badly to lash out, but Rhiannon was making noises and she saw that her daughter had tears in her eyes. This wasn’t the time to cause a Force-induced tantrum. The young mother took a deep breath to calm herself. “Soothing thoughts,” she whispered. “Soothing thoughts.”

    “And it will all be over soon,” Thrawn murmured behind her. “Two more of our targets are straight ahead.”

    Minerva looked up to see that Harus Ison, the Ubiqtorate colonel from the task force, and Rosita Turuy, the ISB major who was assigned to Governor Pryce’s office, were standing together a few metres away from them, deep in conversation. The young woman was unsure how to approach them, but her husband strode purposely past her and held out his hand in salutation.

    Harus Ison looked at Thrawn’s proffered hand as if he had been presented with a particularly repugnant piece of grime and gave the Chiss a glare. “I have to admit that your nerve is admirable, Thrawn. This area is for Imperial officials. What are you even doing here?”

    “My wife is still a lieutenant in the Navy,” Thrawn answered calmly. “I am merely escorting her – and it would be most rude of me not to come and greet my former colleagues.”

    “Spare us the etiquette lesson,” Major Turuy spat. “We see you for what you are – a failure who cost the ISB one of its best agents and a sponger who lives off the generosity of the Empire instead of labouring in the prison camp where you belong. Your presence here is a disgrace.”

    “Funny how your superior officer doesn’t seem to agree with you,” Minerva piped up. “Colonel Yularen thought it was a pleasure to see us, and the feeling was mutual. In your case, however,” – she checked in the corner of her eye that Thrawn had successfully slipped a microchip in Major Turuy’s pocket – “actually, in your case, the feeling is mutual too. We came here for the Ice Dance, not to make small talk with a boor.”

    “Or two,” Thrawn added with a pointed look at Ison. “If you will excuse us now, we will find a better place and better company to watch the show.”

    He offered his arm to his wife, standing tall and regal in front of the two Imperials, and they walked away. “What do they think –” Minerva began.

    “Soothing thoughts,” Thrawn interrupted sternly. “And let us focus on our mission for now. There will be time to vent later. Did you get a chip on Ison?”

    Minerva took a deep breath again. “I clipped it to his sleeve. Where is Pryce? Let’s get this over with. I don’t think I want to stay for the dance.”

    “Rhiannon might disagree with you, my dear. She seems to find all this very entertaining. Shall we go and get her a bottle of hot chocolate before we resume our quest?”

    Minerva snorted. “There’s no hot chocolate.”

    “My point precisely. Let us have a look at the atmosphere near the cafeteria.”
     
  21. WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

    WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Aug 31, 2004
    [face_dancing] [face_dancing] GO MINERVA GIRL! [face_mischief] =D= =D= Tell that slimy duo Ison and Turuy with their snippy condescending arrogant attitudes! I do like Yularen -- he at least has manners :p

    @};-
     
  22. Nehru_Amidala

    Nehru_Amidala Force Ghost star 7

    Registered:
    Oct 3, 2016
    I am so glad you found the time to update, this motivates me to update soon as well. I liked this chapter, go Minerva is right! This was a great chapter, things are settling into place and I cannot wait to read what happens next.
     
  23. It Is Your Destiny

    It Is Your Destiny Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 1, 2014
    Wow! =D= Chyntuck, you go above and beyond. The opening crawls, the soundtrack, and superb writing. I thought the Falcon cameo was a nice touch. You have a great handle on Thrawn's character.
    Precisely why he's so formidable. :) Thanks for sharing such an intriguing spyfic.
     
  24. Mistress_Renata

    Mistress_Renata Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 9, 2000
    I got a little behind. First of all, it's always a treat to see the Fabulous Eliskandro, working his magic. I really hope you manage to do "A Day at Shazam" sometime.

    The Ice Carnival sounds as if it would be lovely, if the Empire wasn't around! Love that the ushers had turquoise uniforms. Clever of the Thrawn family to be able to plant the trackers... wonder if any of the ISB officers will notice? I must say, Minerva's pretty bold to backtalk a Colonel and a Major when she's only a lowly lieutenant herself! But they were very rude.

    I am very keen to see what happens when they confront Pryce! And Rhiannon totally deserves hot chocolate; someone must have some! And come on, a romantic dance under the night stars? How could Minerva resist?
     
  25. Chyntuck

    Chyntuck Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 11, 2014
    Thank you for the reviews! I have a new chapter for you today, but first a few replies.
    Thanks! You made me laugh out loud with your comment. Actually, I like Yularen too, he came across as the nice elderly gentleman type in the Thrawn novel. Rosita, on the other hand, not so much (IIRC she was the one who tried to trap Thrawn and Eli with a card game). And Harus Ison... well, I just needed another very Imperial Imperial :p
    Thank you! I need to catch up with your new chapter now, but meanwhile I hope you'll enjoy the next one.
    Thank you and welcome to this story! I hope you'll enjoy the rest too. I was very happy when I received Nehru's fic-gift request, because Thrawn in a spy story is just something I couldn't say no to!
    Thank you :) I'm pretty sure that some of the ISB people will notice the spy chips at some point, but will it be early enough? Stay tuned! Meanwhile, Minerva is generally a rather reserved person, but this is team work and Thrawn needed a diversion. Of course, someone may want to cause her problems for not keeping her mouth shut, so they'll have to act fast and find Pryce.

    Oh, and now I have two different ideas for A Day at Shazam, and I need to add that to my plot bunny list.

    Thanks again for the reviews and thanks to everyone who stopped by to read! Next chapter coming right up.