Rebel Defenders: Fighting the Framework (Book 4 MCU/Star Wars Crossover)

Through Imperial Eyes

The alarms blared throughout the ship and Kallus woke up. He didn't realize how long he'd been sleeping. He rushed to his feet and turned on the faucet at the sink near his bed. He splashed water on his face and looked in the mirror. He practiced making his gaze neutral and emotionless. He realized that based on the color of the flashing lights in the hallway that this specific alert would result in the appearance of a high ranking official arriving at New York/Lothal. Kallus knew the growing presence of different Rebel groups after Thrawn prevented Danny Rand of Rand Enterprises from sabotaging Project TIE Defender would lead to another appearance by Chief High Governor Tarkin.

Tarkin made Kallus shiver with discomfort and it wasn't because of Tarkin's cold demeanor. His penchant for expecting near perfection when it came to results frustrated Kallus. Thrawn running the Imperial military operation within New York/Lothal was even more problematic. Thrawn noticed the smallest details even more so than the perfectionist Tarkin. So Kallus walked at a casual pace to Thrawn's office at the back of the airship.

He remembered Tarkin's visit to New York/Lothal two years ago. How he came along with the tall, massive and masked Darth Vader who spoke in a threatening manner with every sentence. Kallus recalled Imperial officers Taskmaster Grint and Commandant Aresko execution by Vader's lead Inquisitor on Tarkin's orders. He remembered Tarkin subtly threatening Kallus to improve his overall performance or he would also suffer the same fate.

Kallus placed all of these thoughts in the back of his mind. Leuitenant Yogar Lyste soon joined him in his journey to Thrawn's office. He was a young enthusiastic officer who was eager to capture the Rebels blaming them for the massacre at Harlem's police precinct. Kallus knew it was orchestrated by one of the Councilwomen of Governor Pryce's council Mariah Dillard and her close associate street criminal Hernan "Shades" Alvarez. He resisted the urge to tell his contact Jessica Jones the shame he felt having to lie to an innocent family who lost a husband and a father in the massacre. Kallus thought he joined the Empire to defend its subjects from dangerous enemies not sacrifice loyal subjects of the Empire as pawns for political gain.

Kallus barely paid attention to Leuitenant Lyste. He felt sorry for the young man. Lyste still believed the lies the Empire was telling people. It was this ignorance that Kallus viewed as the most dangerous predicament an Imperial officer could find themselves in not his own role as a traitorous spy for the Rebels. Kallus heard yelling and grunting as if someone was engaging in combat. Lyste stopped talking and Kallus turned and watched Thrawn sparring with Imperial Enforcer Droids.

The tall gray Droids stood close to 9 feet tall and moved with surprising speed and dexterity despite their great size. Thrawn cooly blocked each strike with a metal bo staff. He struck the nearest Droid in the leg precisely at its knee and it fell down. He beat the Droid in the head until it's core processor overheated and it shut down. When the second droid knocked the staff away from behind, Thrawn quickly blocked the Droid's punch with his wrist. Thrawn did a spin kick at the Droid's chest which caused it to stumble backwards. Thrawn used this opening to throw a combination of punches which allowed him to force the Droid to his knees.

"Override code Ruhk." Thrawn said before the second Droid could attack after rebooting

Kallus realized this public display of combat training with powerful Imperial Enforcer Droids was deliberately intended to intimidate any individual who walked to Thrawn's office. Kallus and Lyste reached the doors of Thrawn's office and Admiral Konstantine greeted Kallus and Kallus wanted to strike him in the face. Konstantine refused to even address the Harlem family effected by the massacre at the precinct. He instead made a public Holo Net appearance alongside Governor Pryce pledging to personally bring the Rebel scum who did this to justice. Despite knowing the truth that Rebels had nothing to do with the massacre. It made Kallus sick to his stomach to even look at Konstantine. He swallowed his disgust and gave Konstantine a nod of acknowledgement.