It happens to everyone - sometimes, you have nights where you just can't fall asleep, no matter what you do. It could be for a number of reasons, or no reason at all. And this is what's happened now: you've been laying in bed for what feels like hours, just tossing and turning, and nothing seems to help. So what's left to do? Get out of bed and go wake someone else up, of course. If you're not getting any sleep, then why should they?
i n s t r u c t i o n s • Post with your character (note the name and fandom in the subject).
• Other people reply to you by generating a number from 1 to 10.
• Have fun!
o p t i o n s 01 • FEAR. Maybe you're hearing strange, indeterminable noises; maybe there's a severe storm happening outside; maybe you watched a scary movie before bed? Whatever the reason, you're terrified and it's keeping you awake. You just want to wake someone else up so they can protect you from the monster in your closet.
02 • HUNGER. Your stomach is growling and it just won't stop. Or perhaps your throat is so dry you could cough up a tumbleweed? Well, you've gone to the kitchen to remedy this and hey, that was a pan that just dropped on the floor. It was loud enough to wake the dead! Oops.
03 • PAIN. Your body is completely worn out, be it from exercise, battle, sickness, or what have you. Either way you're in enough pain to keep you from sleeping, so maybe someone else has a home remedy or something, or can at least help you take your mind off of it.
04 • SOLITUDE. For some reason, your bed just feels so empty at the moment. You're feeling terribly lonely and really just want someone to keep you company for a while. Maybe it'd be easier to fall asleep if you're with them...
05 • DISCOMFORT. Your room is an oven. Either that or a freezer. Or maybe this bed is just really uncomfortable? Who knows why you can't get to sleep, it feels like it could be anything. Why even bother trying? Maybe someone else can preoccupy you until you feel tired enough to ignore your discomfort.
06 • PENSIVE. Something's on your mind, and no matter how hard you try to focus elsewhere, it's just not going to work. Your body may be tired, but your mind is incredibly busy and it's virtually impossible to get to sleep. Surely, talking it out with someone else will help?
07 • SADNESS. Something terrible has happened that day, perhaps; or you could just be severely depressed. Either way you're trying your hardest not to cry yourself to sleep, and it's not working at all. Better find a way to get it out of your system somehow; you need a shoulder to cry on.
08 • ANGER. You are just... fuming. Who knows why - that annoying dog is barking again, or maybe the people next door are getting busy and keeping you awake. Whatever the reason for your ire is, you'd better put an end to it so you can get some damn rest already! Go wake up a friend so you can complain to them.
09 • RESTLESS. You're far too energetic to sleep right now. Maybe you're just trying to do so out of necessity - you have to be up early tomorrow! But you just don't think you'll be able to fall asleep for a while now, so why waste the time trying to sleep when you could be doing something else? Namely bothering someone else - you're totally jealous because they're getting more sleep than you.
10 • WILDCARD. Choose one of the options above, or make up your own scenario. |
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bakerstreet2020-06-10 07:06 pm
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Usually, by now, she was long since asleep. Her quarters in the Imperial Palace were extensive, it was true, and her conscience did not trouble her anymore. She did not feel guilt, as Director of the Imperial Security Bureau. What she did was for the good of the Empire, and done at her Emperor's command. What need she feel guilt for?
But tonight, she felt things gnawing at her, and thus she stood in one of the Palace's public viewing galleries, hands clasped behind her back, watching the rain. The handful of cleaning staff and other functionaries still working at this late hour gave her a wide berth - the blood red uniform told them full well who she was. And that disturbing her was a potentially perilous act.
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Even Thrawn needed a break now and then, thus he left his office to wander the halls, uniform as crisp as ever, hands behind his back, and posture erect. He was the picture of stoicism and professionalism, the mysterious alien whom the Emperor had given a rare opportunity to.
It wasn't long before he turned the corner and spied the woman in the red uniform. "Good evening, Director Isard."
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"Admiral Thrawn," she replied, hands tightening behind her back.
She disliked Thrawn considerably. Oh, it had nothing to do with his species - being a woman in the upper ranks she understood the Empire's prejudices all too well, and did not share them - but the sheer mystery of the man drove her up the wall.
She had no idea what his origins were, what the Emperor's actual plans for the man were, nor what the man's own agenda might be. He was an unknown quantity, and his obvious strategic genius only added to that. She wondered, idly, what would happen if Thrawn stamped his feet - would legions and fleets rise up to follow him? That question was unanswerable - and that alone made her despise him, just a little.
Besides which, the Emperor's court was all about competition - it was how Palpatine wished it, wasn't it? All of them competing for his favour, trying to outdo the other. She was fairly certain it was designed to make them hate each other, so they could never successfully align.
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Thrawn was content to let her stumble in the dark, wondering why Palpatine had allowed him into the Fleet in the first place and why Thrawn still stuck around despite still facing prejudice as an alien. The ISB did not need to be privy to such things.
He stopped before the window, standing a good few feet away from her, and turned to look out at the city.
"I take it something is on your mind?" His voice was as calm and icy as ever, with very little emotion. Were anybody passing through, they might have figured the Admiral had merely made an observational comment.
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But it aggravated her. He was part of the fleet structure but apart from it. An unknown quantity.
"There is always something on my mind," she replied, striving to attain her own calm again. "Sedition spread by the day, as I'm sure you are well aware."
She paused, sending out a small lure. Perhaps this would get her something useful from that dispassionate face.
"I understand the...special project of Grand Moff Tarkin is in its final stages."
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At her comment, Thrawn's only reaction was a slight tilt of his head. "Is it now?"
He knew what project she was referring to, of course. The superweapon that had the power to destroy entire worlds. So much time, resources, and funding had been funneled into that weapon, all with the intent to make the galaxy too fearful to even think of fighting back.
Thrawn didn't like it. He disliked such weapons in general.
"The Emperor seems quite invested in making sure it is fully operational soon."
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If it comes to open blows, she can name the Senators she thinks would join the cause - and there's more of them than she would like. She would very much like to arrange a speeder accident for Mon Mothma, for instance, but to do that might cause all of Chandrila to rise in revolt.
"It makes for impressive reading," she replied, before adding a slight pause, "on paper. And I confess such affairs are beyond me - the Emperor, however, understands the value in it and has communicated such to me."
If he's half as clever as he is rumored to be, he'll catch the subtle implication. She can't openly condemn the folly. Which also hamstrings her efforts to make contingency plans if something goes awry, since she can't engage in those openly.
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That he will be out the sight of ISB is just a nice addition, which his crew will no doubt appreciate.
Thrawn more than catches the hint, turning to face her. "Likewise, the Emperor has told me why he values such a project." Reasons that Thrawn thoroughly disagrees with. "However, the project is out of my jurisdiction."
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The greatest secret of her life, the one she will not even consider, is this: in many ways, she is much shrewder than Palpatine. Better able to judge which threats are more pressing. At the pinnacle of power, a Dark Side master unlike any the universe has ever seen, Palpatine's concerns reach incomprehensible levels - and means that his system mismanages the day to day.
She faced the alien, too, looking into those inscrutable red eyes, her own blue and red eyes searching.
"Indeed - though at least some funding has been flowing your way, I understand."
She's not supposed to know about TIE Defenders and their development, as it is meant to be a project known only to the chiefs of staff, Thrawn and the Emperor - but it pays to keep informed. And her erstwhile superiors on the staff are so very terrible at keeping secrets.
"A project of immediate use to the fleet, it seems."
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Though, some of that funding has been cut in order to be diverted into Project Stardust. He's been told that there's always next year, when the Death Star will be finished, and there will be room in the budget for the TIE Defender.
How she found out about that, he has a few ideas. She clearly likes to keep herself in the loop, even in matters that do not concern her. Thrawn can't help but find that an admirable trait. After all, he himself found out about the Death Star when he should not have. Perhaps Palpatine would have told him eventually, since he has certain privileges that others do not.
"If I may present you with a hypothetical, Director? You are presented with a man with a very bad infection on his leg, and it is beginning to go necrotic. You are also presented with a pair of tools. One is a fine blade, apt for cutting away the festering flesh. The other is a heavy, blunt weapon, so that you may merely kill the man."
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She listens to his 'hypothetical', arching an eyebrow.
"I would, of course, prefer the fine blade. Alive, the man is of use. Dead, he is of no use. And potentially a martyr, depending on the circumstances."
Because what else can the Death Star possibly achieve?
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"As would I. There is no practical sense to using the blunt weapon." Nor a moral one, for that matter. But he's not about to say that part out loud.
The Death Star, it has many drawbacks besides a moral one. It can only be in one place at once, and it destroys the resource a planet may have brought.
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"The worst part, it is habit forming. Once you have seen the ease of the operation, you are tempted to do it over and again, and call it efficiency."
Her own response is obvious enough.
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There's no doubt in Thrawn's mind that the Death Star isn't going to just be a tool for intimidation. Tarkin is the sort of man who would make full use of such a thing, and do so with the Emperor's full blessing and authority.
"Some feel that such a thing is only going to use it once, because after that, the mere threat will be enough to defeat our enemies." His voice is carefully neutral, with only the barest hint of inflection. "However, one does not pour time and resources into such a project to only use it once. Do you believe that once the galaxy becomes aware of it, they will lay down their arms and swear utmost loyalty to the Empire?"
Thrawn certainly doesn't think so. Fear is never a good motivator.
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"A few species may, based on their own psychology, surrender to it - but the ones who have a history of fighting long odds won't hesitate for a moment. The Wookies, Mon Calamari, Sullustans, and humans of course...they'll fight all the harder. Planets that have been peaceful since the Clone Wars will rise on principle."
That's what's keeping her up, certainly. She knows just how much worse her job is about to be.
"People are strange beings, aren't they? Give them an opportunity to be cowards and many, most I'd say, will take it. 'Not my business, not my fight,' they'll say. But give them a choice between submission and a fight to the death..."