"Several possibilities occur to me. Some psychological, others more... esoteric." Her lips quirk. "Depending how much knowledge has survived the passage of years. I cannot think of any purely military reasons to concentrate a galactic-scale force in such a manner."

"Certainly not, it opens up a perfectly functional military to such dramatic catastrophes as the battle at Endor," agrees Thrawn, mildly. "But when you realize that the Emperor was Sith, and on the Death Star, and that the battle became a disaster not with the Death Star's destruction, but with his death..." He smiles. "Well, then it becomes quite simple. If esoteric, as you put it."

"Such abilities are not exactly commonplace. It is more than a question of mere knowledge, a certain innate gift is required."

"Is it. The self proclaimed Jedi Master implied it was a matter of power, not innate gifts."

Callida is not saying a word, nope. Not saying a word.

"If one is prepared to spend every moment of their time micromanaging each detailed action of every subordinate, indeed, that may be accomplished by power alone. It is a simple matter to mold the minds of the weak. But if you wish your forces to be capable of more than breathing without your direct intervention..."

"It requires something a bit more subtle." He glances between Occlus and Callida. "When the Emperor died, the entire Imperial force lost its resolve and discipline in an instant. Can I surmise that a properly talented individual wouldn't cause this loss?"

"According to my research, yes."

Occlus projects calm through the Force at Callida.

Callida is a Sith, so she's unlikely to do something so elementary as panic, but the calm is certainly appreciated. The Grand Admiral unnerves her a bit. Sort of like Occlus did, when they first met. Well, if Occlus were blue, male, and literally sitting on a void in the Force. He's hard for her to read, and she doesn't know how much he knows, and that really bothers her.

"Then according to your research, is there some way to locate an individual with this gift?"

"As I said, it is rare. Perhaps one or two in a generation with the potential. If you have a convenient population of Force-users, I might be able to determine if any fit."

"No. The Emperor saw to the death of nearly all of the Jedi, and I believe I already commented on the fate of the Sith."

"'Nearly all' the Jedi?"

"There is one remaining. Luke Skywalker. And his untrained sister, and her unborn children."

(The tech quietly enters the room, providing the datapad and datacards.)

Occlus accepts the datapad and begins scanning through the information.

"Well then. Enough of the past. Tell me of your plans for the future, Grand Admiral."

He considers Occlus for a moment.

"I suppose," he muses, "that I should mention the necessity of a strong central government with an equally strong military force with which to defend it, and the people that live behind its borders. I believe the universe is bigger than any of us consider it, and that there might be threats we can't face as a loose collection of squabbling states."

"So rebuilding this Empire would not be simply for your own satisfaction?"

"Not simply, no. It'd be a shame to go to the trouble of rebuilding an Empire only to let it rip itself apart in a century."

But he does enjoy the challenge of it.

"In my time, extragalactic hyperspace travel was accepted to be impossible. Has this changed?"

"Impossible by current galactic technology, yes. But I did encounter a number of nascent scouting parties with intergalactic trajectories in the Unknown Regions, so not comprehensively impossible."

"Hm."

Occlus glances at her apprentice.

Callida is not so persuaded by the idea of joining in on something because it seems like it might be kind of interesting to do.

Right. Okay. Time to start talking. She motions to the datapad, so Occlus can pass it to her.

"I can't help but notice," says Callida slowly, "that rebellions are messy, and difficult, and those conducting them have to be highly motivated to enact them. Especially when faced against an overwhelming force in impossible odds." She fixes Thrawn with a look. "So which of the Empire's policies were responsible?"

One down. But that was the easy one, the apprentice is the troublesome one, isn't she. And not so easily overlooked, Occlus values this apprentice too much to ignore something so easily to attend to as her preferences.

He smiles. "That is a subject of some debate. As I understand, the Emperor cultivated their existence as an excuse to tighten governing policies and to keep martial law in place."

"So are we talking mass slavery, genocide, grievous torture...?"

"The core of the Rebellion was formed from Old Republic Senators unhappy that their power was diminished in the new order," says Pellaeon. Spineless cowards, the lot of them. "I will not say that I agreed with everything the Emperor did, but the galaxy was a better place with the Empire in charge."