"You'd think the man was carved from ice."

Riyo had to remind herself that they were chatting via holocomm, so Senator Roig could see her reaction to the statement. She certainly didn't want to appear ungrateful for the information her fellow Senator was sharing, even if the information was completely useless. Carved from ice… what was that even supposed to mean?

She'd contacted Roig for information after receiving an unpleasant message from an Imperial official informing her that due to Imperial interests in the area, a Star Destroyer would be temporarily stationed in Pantoran space. That, very literally, was the extent of the message. There was no question if their presence would have the approval of Pantora, there was no contact information for her to obtain more information. It was very simply: we're coming into your home for however long we see fit, and there is nothing you can do about it.

Naturally, she didn't take the lack of contact information as an excuse to not give them her opinion on the matter. After a few hours of contacting various officials, she finally found someone who was able to give her the name of the individual in charge of the Star Destroyer: Admiral Thrawn.

Her focus quickly turned to getting any information she could find on the Admiral, which proved to be significantly more difficult than she'd anticipated. The man was nearly a ghost. Nobody seemed to actually know who this Admiral was. Roig was the 7th or 8th person she'd contacted, and the first who was even familiar with his name.

"I'm afraid I don't know what that means. Can you elaborate?"

"I met him once, years ago at a party. He was only a Lieutenant at the time, so he must have worked his way up the ranks pretty quickly if he's an Admiral now. Yularen was carting him around, touting the man like he was the best thing to happen to the Empire since Palpatine."

She forced herself to not snort. The best thing since Palpatine. What a recommendation. But the fact that Yularen was familiar with the man gave her a little bit of faith. If he was fond of this Admiral maybe this whole ordeal wouldn't be a complete disaster. She hadn't spoken to Yularen in years, but she would have to reach out to him to feel out the situation a little further.

"Did you speak with him much?"

"Unfortunately not enough to give you much advice on his character. He's fascinating but… But have you ever had a conversation with someone and suddenly felt that you were being observed like a specimen in some bazaar experiment?" She shook her head. "He's strange, it's hard to describe him. He was polite — very polite, in fact. My memory could be a little off, I may have been a little… inebriated. You know how those parties go. But in the maybe ten or fifteen minutes I spoke with him, I got the impression I was speaking to a glacier. A tall, intelligent, well-mannered glacier."

Riyo wasn't even sure how to make sense of such a description. Clearly Roig wasn't going to be of much help. "Well, thank you. I'm sure Yularen can help me as well. It will be a nice excuse to catch up with him."

"Oh, and he's Pantoran. Did you know that? That's probably why he was assigned a mission in your area."

She paused. "That can't be right. There's not a Pantoran Admiral in the Imperial Navy. I would certainly know if there were."

Roig shrugged. "He had a pretty thick accent, but I couldn't place where it was from. Maybe he's not from Pantora, but he certainly looked like he was."

Riyo was fond of Yularen from the first time they met. Always polite and reasonable, he stood in sharp contrast to the other Imperial officers she'd interacted with, who only seemed to grow more and more aggressive and domineering since the fall of the Republic. Yularen was a man of classical values and good taste, and an advocate of efficiency and order but never of abuse of power. Speaking with him made her miss the days when her interactions with galactic military forces meant working with people such as Kenobi, a time when those in power truly believed reason trumped might and peaceful resolutions were preferable to quick ones.

"It's been too long, Senator. How have you been?" His white mustache shifted with a slight smile. The last time they spoke his mustache was dark grey. Time was passing too quickly.

"I'm very well, Colonel. Busy, much like yourself. I'm glad I was able to catch you."

"You reached out at just the right time. I'm actually in my office today, by chance. What can I help you with?"

"There is a matter I wanted to discuss with you, I hoped you might be able to lend some insight. I've just received word that there's to be some sort military action on a planet near Pantora. Given the proximity, I'm told Pantora will be hosting a Star Destroyer for the duration of the mission. I believe you may be familiar with the officer leading the mission — an Admiral Thrawn?"

She watched his reaction closely, hoping his initial expression might give away anything he'd attempt to hide when he spoke. His eyebrows rose in surprise, but there was no hint of a frown or any sort of concern. She trusted Yularen enough to believe he held genuine concern for the well being of the general populace, and knew that he was not blind to the corruption of certain Naval officials. If he wasn't concerned, she didn't have nearly as much to worry about. "Ah, yes, Thrawn. You can trust that the mission is in good hands, and that Pantora won't see any misbehavior from him or his crew. The man runs a tight ship."

So she was dealing with a well-mannered iceman who ran a tight ship. The lack of concrete information was maddening, but Yularen's faith in him did bode well. "That's good to hear, Pantora is certainly not used to having any sort of galactic military presence. As you know we prefer to operate in a very autonomous manner. The presence of an Imperial military force will make the people here nervous."

"You and your people have no reason to worry, Senator. I'm a little surprised nobody set up a meeting between the two of you prior to this. Are you expecting them to arrive soon?"

"Unfortunately it hasn't been deemed necessary for me to have much information at all in this matter, but I'm told they should arrive in a few days."

"I'll reach out to him and let him know that he should see you as soon as he arrives. I'm sure a meeting with him will help quell your concerns."

If the Imperial Navy were run by individuals with half the sense and a quarter of the morality of Yularen, she might actually be fond of the institution. "Yes, I think that would be appropriate. Please do." She paused, wondering if her next question was too strange to even ask. "I've been told this Admiral is Pantoran. Is that correct?"

"I'm afraid not, in fact I doubt he's even met a Pantoran before. He seems to be mistaken for one quite frequently, though." His white mustache twitched a little, and she got the impression he was trying not to laugh. "Between you and me, I think he's slightly irritated by it."