Snippet #2781872

Varona considered Thrawn in front of him. Though he was noticeably below Thrawn's eye level when both were sitting, and to the uninitiated observer physically disadvantaged in comparison by far, Varona's presence was vast.

"We are all familiar with basic strategy, admiral." His tone was flat and unimpressed. "Political and cultural analysis belong to Foreign Affairs and Intelligence, which I might add, have both developed substantial expertise on the Taiyou and Aschen, without your unsolicited 'help.' Or have you somehow managed to advance this far without even the smallest modicum of intelligence necessary to minimally grasp your particular and limited role in our defense infrastructure?"

Well said, Božidar seemed to say with his eyes, burning fiercely.

"I'm going to put it more plainly," the enormous, bearded Foreign Affairs Minister said, speaking for the first time since Thrawn had arrived. "You think you've been helping, but you've gone and fucked up a shitton of sensitive operations in not just my department, but for the fucking TIB too. You've done the exact opposite of help. You've made things actively worse. So thank you for all the fucking help."