Those eyes were now regarding Lash. "That's not a common reaction in Humans," Thrawn replied, amused despite himself. Such a lack of tact was just too rude to be offensive; it rose to the level of comedy.
"Most humans aren't me," she replied, scratching the back of her neck. She was grinning back. "Name's Lash. Black Hole Commanding Officer, although I guess here titles don't mean much anyway." She shrugged. "I guess you got lucky and woke up this round?"
"Grand Admiral Thrawn, Supreme Commander of the Galactic Imperial Navy," he introduced himself. Even if it didn't matter, that was one hell of a title.
"'This round?' Does it happen on a schedule?" He cocked his head, interested in any information about the situation.
Wow, that was an impressive title. It sounded military-like, and she couldn't help but feel better about him because of it. "Galactic Imperial Navy? Is that some sort of ship group? Black Hole didn't Admirals. Just Commanding Officers and our leaders."
"And yeah, there seems to be a schedule." she crossed her arms at his second question. "I've been here for a while, I'm guessing about nearly six months. This it the third time I've seen it happen. Sometimes you get lucky and people you know pop up." She paused a little before speaking again. "Hasn't happened to me, it's kinda of a bummer, but whatever."
"It's the combined space forces of the Empire. I also command the ground forces." Something that could sound like a boast came out as a mere statement of fact when Thrawn said it.
"You may not have friends, but at least you don't have enemies, either," he said dryly, since he himself wasn't lacking in the latter.
"Space forces!" she parroted, visibly impressed. "Before coming here, I'd never been in space. It's pretty fun, teehee."
Lash frowned as she continued, however. "With my luck, Olaf is going to show up one day." She shivered. "Uuuh! I guess some people don't like you then?"
"Your civilization was pre-spaceflight?" Thrawn started to draw Lash out about her culture.
"A handful of people here were on the other side of a war from me," he said, cementing his nomination for the Understatement of the Year. "It doesn't matter now, but I'm not entirely sure they'll realize that."
"Well I once built a huge flying ship, and before that a missile platform, but we didn't get it higher than the clouds," she explained. "We had some satellites too, but compared to Stacy, I guess that doesn't sound very impressive." She puffed up in pride a little. "Black Hole weapons were my ideas anyway. Maybe if we'd conquered the world, we'd have gone off into space."
Oooh the wrong side of war. That sounded familiar. "Eh, I've had that too," she said with a small dismiss of her hand. "Hawke and I had to leave Black Hole when Von Bolt took over. We ended joining up with our enemies to defeat him. Maybe what your foes need is to be chased by man-eating ten foot tall pieces of jello to change their minds?"
"...I'll take that under advisement," Thrawn replied and rapidly changed the subject.
"What do you mean by 'black hole' in this context?" he asked. It was safer not to take terminology for granted around here, he was beginning to realize.
"Oh that's what we were called," she explained. "Black Hole was us. There was also Blue Moon, Yellow Comet, Orange Star and Green Earth. They formed the allied nations." Lash never realized how odd it might have sounded for those who were not from Macroland. For her, it was a simple state of life, as silly as nations named after colors and shapes were. Blame Nintendo.
Dude he comes from a universe where people think "Naboo" is a perfectly good name for a planet.
"Ah. And your state was not part of the alliance?" It was not as irrelevant as it seemed. Being from a rogue polity would have influenced Lash's psychology in a different way than being a citizen of a nation-state in a stable federation would have.
At least it's not Orange Naboo or Green Dantooine.
"The Allied Nations were formed to combat Black Hole," Lash replied, a tiny glint in her eyes. "It's sole purpose was to stop another Black Hole attack. In a way it succeeded, but I like to think in a large part because Hawke and I deflected when Von Bolt tried to terminate us. You'd think a competent leader wouldn't try eliminating their subordinates, especially when they had so much knowledge about the secret bases and weapon locations."
Oh, it influenced her in all sorts of wrong ways alright.
"I see," Thrawn replied, pulling the answer to the question he'd actually asked out of the stream-of-consciousness narrative. Lash was not the first tactless genius he'd ever met. "The problem of self-centered rulers is not unique to your planet."
Lash, making the best first impressions.
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"'This round?' Does it happen on a schedule?" He cocked his head, interested in any information about the situation.
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"And yeah, there seems to be a schedule." she crossed her arms at his second question. "I've been here for a while, I'm guessing about nearly six months. This it the third time I've seen it happen. Sometimes you get lucky and people you know pop up." She paused a little before speaking again. "Hasn't happened to me, it's kinda of a bummer, but whatever."
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"You may not have friends, but at least you don't have enemies, either," he said dryly, since he himself wasn't lacking in the latter.
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Lash frowned as she continued, however. "With my luck, Olaf is going to show up one day." She shivered. "Uuuh! I guess some people don't like you then?"
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"A handful of people here were on the other side of a war from me," he said, cementing his nomination for the Understatement of the Year. "It doesn't matter now, but I'm not entirely sure they'll realize that."
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Oooh the wrong side of war. That sounded familiar. "Eh, I've had that too," she said with a small dismiss of her hand. "Hawke and I had to leave Black Hole when Von Bolt took over. We ended joining up with our enemies to defeat him. Maybe what your foes need is to be chased by man-eating ten foot tall pieces of jello to change their minds?"
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"What do you mean by 'black hole' in this context?" he asked. It was safer not to take terminology for granted around here, he was beginning to realize.
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"Ah. And your state was not part of the alliance?" It was not as irrelevant as it seemed. Being from a rogue polity would have influenced Lash's psychology in a different way than being a citizen of a nation-state in a stable federation would have.
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"The Allied Nations were formed to combat Black Hole," Lash replied, a tiny glint in her eyes. "It's sole purpose was to stop another Black Hole attack. In a way it succeeded, but I like to think in a large part because Hawke and I deflected when Von Bolt tried to terminate us. You'd think a competent leader wouldn't try eliminating their subordinates, especially when they had so much knowledge about the secret bases and weapon locations."
Oh, it influenced her in all sorts of wrong ways alright.
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"Why were you attacking?"
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