Welcome to Day 14 of my NaBloPoMo Challenge, where I randomly pick a card from the Star Wars Chat Pack and write an answer.

Today’s question is: Bad news: You work for the Empire. Good news: You get to choose your boss. Who is it?

For me, I think it would be Thrawn. Most of the Imperial bosses I’m familiar with are terrifyingly evil (the Emperor, Darth Vader), arrogant and cold (Tarkin), too ambitious for their own good (Krennic), and just plain inept (fill in the blank). There’s not many I’d want to work for, lol.

But Thrawn…he’s different. Still a bad guy doing bad things, but he’s actually smart, doesn’t waste his resources (ie, you or me), and though he’s well aware of his talents, he doesn’t throw it in your face. He’s intimidating and formidable, but he seems to inspire loyalty in his minions, probably because of the above reasons. He doesn’t seem to rule by fear (though I’d fear him if I angered him), but by competence and results. And he’s unfailingly polite, for the most part.

So if I had to work for the Empire, I’d pick Thrawn, but he’s still an Imperial, so I’d want to defect to the Rebel Alliance. But because he’s Thrawn, he’d figure it out way ahead of time and do away with me. For strategic reasons, of course; nothing personal. In which case I’m better off picking someone more inept, lol. Oh well.

Between all the movies, shows, books, and comics, there are plenty of other Imperial bosses out there, but these are the ones that came to my mind. Who would you pick? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!