Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Oh sweet, sweet vacation. It was the one time of year that Eli could get away from it all. No pirates, smuggling rings, rebels, or grand moffs could interrupt him now, no sir. But the best part of all this had to be the fact that there was absolutely no possible way that Thrawn could drag him into yet another one of his batshit crazy missions. The last few campaigns had been exhausting to say the least and Eli was beyond relieved when he found out that Commanders got a whole week to themselves. Oh yes, Eli was going to enjoy every second away from the chaos of life on the ISD Chimaera.

Although there were an infinite number of paradises he could fly off to, he decided it had been much too long since he’d been home. He missed the huge grassy fields and the warm sun on his face. Besides, there were plenty of ways to relax on Lysatra, if you knew where to go.

Unfortunately, the universe had other plans. Two days in and Eli hears about a ‘Pantoran with sunglasses’ that had recently come to his small hometown. Sipping a local brew, Eli turned his head to better hear the not so hushed conversation happening near him.

“Yeah, he’s got sunglasses for some reason.”

“Maybe he has an eye problem or something.”

‘For kriffs sake’, he thought as he downed his beer. If he had a credit for every time he’d heard that one. Well, it was nice while it lasted. The two farm hands at the table next to him continued.

“Kriffing aliens. Y’know what the weird thing is though? He was talking in SyBisti. He comes all the way out here and he can’t even be bothered to learn Basic. It’s in the name for crying out loud. Ba-sic, I mean, how hard can it be? ”

Eli rolled his eyes. If there was one thing he didn’t miss about his homeworld, it was the blatant xenophobia. He paid for his drink and headed out of the cantina, sunlight pouring over him. Hmm maybe Thrawn had a point for wear shades.

Still, he wondered why Thrawn wasn't speaking Basic on Lysatra. The man was certainly fluent by now. Then again, this might just be a way to get Eli’s attention. Stars knows he wouldn’t put it past the Chiss. If it was attention he wanted then its attention he’ll get. Eli started his old family speeder and instead of turning right to go back to his family's homestead, he turned left for the city. If Thrawn was on the loose, Eli had only one guess as to where he’d be.

20 miles and a traffic jam later, Eli was walking up the steps to the Lysatra Metropolitan Museum of Art. The search didn’t take long. He wandered for about 15 minutes before spotting him. The Chiss was staring at a painting from the planet’s renaissance period and his back to Eli. ‘That’s odd’ Eli thought. Thrawn’s usually impeccable slicked hair was tousled and his civics weren’t the usual black and grey he preferred. In their place was a maroon colored lightweight tunic and blue jeans. The only way Eli knew for sure it was Thrawn was posture alone. Otherwise he too might have mistaken him for a Pantoran.

Eli walked up to stand next to the man, looking straight ahead at the painting.

“You know Thrawn, you could have just commed if you wanted to see me.” he said in Sy Bisti.

Thrawn suddenly took Eli by the collar and pulled him to his face. It occurred to Eli just then that although the skin and hair color were correct, this was most certainly NOT Thrawn.

“Who are you and how do you know my brother’s name?” The man hissed. The sunglasses had slipped from his eyes and they were glowing in a way that had nothing to do with their color.

Eli stilled, his own eyes wider than they had ever been and mouth open. Now that he could get a good look at the man’s face, he could tell that although this wasn’t Thrawn, there were certain similarities that would indicate a familial tie. Wait, did he say brother?

There was quite a bit of information in that last sentence, but Eli had trouble processing it due to the fact that his brain was currently short circuiting. Finally after what felt like an eternity, he spoke.

“Huh?”

Oh come on, give the poor guy a break, he’s going through a lot right now.

The strange Chiss shook him.

“Thrawn, Mitth’raw’nuru, how do you know his name? Answer, human!”

“Ehem.” Eli and Not Thrawn turned their heads at the voice. A curator was standing next to them, communicator in hand.

“I would politely ask that you take this outside, lest I call the authorities.” She said.

Not Thrawn let go of Eli’s collar.

“Follow me.” He said, and oddly enough, Eli was still too stunned to disobey. They walked out of the museum and into a cafe next door. The smell of freshly brewed caf seemed to calm Eli, but not enough to lower his guard. Something very strange was going on and he was going to get to the bottom of it. The two slid into a booth near the back and Eli stared at Not Thrawn.

“Ok, I’m going to ask this once. Who the Kriff are you?”

“I asked first and I tire of repeating myself.” The intense glowing red eyes could faintly be seen from behind the dark sunglasses. Eli swallowed.

I’m Commander Eli Vanto of the Galactic Imperial Navy. As for how I know Thrawn, I have a feeling that’s something he should explain himself.” Eli reached into his pocket and took out a small, long range holoprojector. All imperial personnel were given one in case of emergency. He hailed the Chimaera and was pleasantly surprised when Commodore Faro answered.

“Commander Vanto? What’s wrong, I thought you were on shore leave?” It might have been a trick of the blue hologram, but Eli could almost see concern in her face. Switching to basic, he said,

“Commodore, I need to speak to the Admiral, privately. Now please.” Faro’s face narrowed in confusion but didn’t press further. After all these years she knew when not to get involved.

“I’ll link you to his office.”

“Thanks Faro.” An Imperial cog symbol took her place as the transmission was re-routed. Not Thrawn spoke again.

“When he inevitably asks why he is needed here, tell him this,” he then said something in a melodious but raspy language that Eli had never heard of. Idly he realized that this must be the Chiss’ native language. Finally, Thrawn’s image appeared.

“Commander Vanto, what has happened? Are you in danger?” he asked urgently. Across from Eli and out of Thrawn’s view, the stranger stilled, eyes now fixed on Thrawn.

“Sir, I’m going to need you to come to Lysatra as soon as you can. Alone if at all possible.”

“Why?” Thrawn asked.

Eli hesitated, looking up at Not Thrawn. The alien simply nodded and said,

“Say it.”

Eli braced himself and hoped against all hope he wasn’t going to say something dirty.

“Because we’re trying to be inconspicuous Raw’nuru.” In basic he said,

“For the record Sir, I have no idea what I just said.”

Thrawn was silent for a good thirty seconds before speaking again, this time with tension in his voice.

“I’m on my way. The chimaera will be there within the hour. Send me coordinates to meet. Thrawn out.” Without another word the transmission ended. Eli looked up again and sighed. At least his life was never boring.

Chapter Text

Thrass was an anxious ball of nerves. Not that anyone could tell anyway, his face was set in stone. He stood in the middle of a large grassy plain, a few miles from Eli'Vanto's home apparently. The man in question stood not far from him, leaning against his speeder. They had only been waiting about 30 minutes before Vanto’s CO, Faro, he recalled, had commed to let him know that Thrawn was on his way down.

Thrawn. His little brother, Mitth’raw’nuru. It had been so long since he had last seen him. Did he look different? Would he be happy to see him? Or angry? Thrass prayed he wasn’t angry. He did what he had to, if only to protect Thrawn and he would gladly do it again.

His thoughts were interrupted as the sound of a shuttle could be heard soaring near them. Vanto stood straight and at what Thrass guessed was parade rest. It seemed that warriors were all the same, no matter where they hailed from.

…

Thrawn was alone in the shuttle. Faro had protested fervently and nearly yelled at him to take a squad of troopers down just in case, but a look was all it took for her to stand down. He appreciated the concern, truly, but this was a personal matter and the less people who knew about it, the better. At least for now anyway.

After the landing sequence was done, he hesitated only for a second before lowering the ramp. If the message Eli told him was true, he was about to see a ghost. A ghost he thought he would never see outside of his nightmares.

The bright sunlight from Lysatra’s sun blinded him for a moment. When his eyes adjusted, he froze. 10 meters in front of him and past Eli, was a man. A man with blue skin, blue black hair, and glowing red eyes. Thrawn drew his side blaster and aimed it straight at him. Eli’s eyes grew wide.

“Admiral, he’s unarmed!” Thrawn ignored Eli. An unarmed Chiss didn’t mean he wasn't dangerous. Addressing the other in Cheunh, he said,

“Who are you and what is your business here?”

The man raised an eyebrow.

“Is that how they greet siblings here?” The blaster didn’t move. There was only way to know for sure and although it was well over 25 years ago, Thrawn would never forget that day. He knew for a fact neither would his brother. It was the day he started his new life away from his birth family.

“The last words my brother said to me before I left for Naporar.” He held his breath. Thrawn wasn’t a man who was known for his hope. It was a dangerous thing he knew, and he feared it would take hold now. The unknown Chiss smiled softly.

“Be safe, little warrior, and conquer the stars.” The blaster wavered and all the breath left Thrawn’s lungs, as if he were suddenly in the vacuum of space.

“Thrass?” He said softly. He couldn’t believe it. This had to be a dream or a nightmare of some sort. But Thrass only nodded and a few seconds later Thrawn was embracing his brother with a durasteel grip, blaster long forgotten on the ground. If this really was a dream, he never wanted to wake up.

“They told me you were dead. I woke up a week later and they told me you were dead,” He said into Thrass’ shoulder. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have left you. It should have been me not you. It was all my fault and I’m sorry.” Thrawn hugged him tightly, as if he would vanish if he dared let go. Thrass hugged him back and Thrawn knew then that this was real. For the first time in what felt like ages, he felt safe in his brother’s arms. They stayed like that for quite a while, neither willing to be the first to let go.

Eventually Thrass gently pulled away. He saw that there were tears running down the younger Chiss’ face. Wiping them away with his thumb he said,

“It wasn’t your fault. No matter what they told you, It was my choice. It's I that should be apologizing.”

“But how are you alive? And why didn’t you come back to the Ascendancy?”

“Questions whose answers will have to wait for the time being. Besides, I believe there are introductions to be made.” Thrass looked to his right. Thrawn followed his gaze and stiffened. He rapidly wiped his eyes and realized with embarrassment that Eli had been standing there the entire time. Thrawn also realized that as Ehi couldn’t understand Cheunh, he had absolutely no idea what the hell was going on.

“Commander Vanto,” he said, turning to his friend, “This is Syndic Mitth’ras’safis of the Chiss Ascendancy. He is also my older brother.”

Eli felt like he was having a stroke. So much was happening and he wasn’t sure how much more he could take. Stars, he needed a drink. All he wanted was to get back on board the Chimaera and drink the strongest whisky they had. For the moment though, the best course of action it seemed to him would be to just smile and wave.

“It’s a pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Syndic.” He said in SyBisti. Addressing Thrawn,

“Shall we go sir? I’m sure there’s quite a bit we need to discuss.” Thrawn furrowed his brow.

“I thought you were on shore leave?”

“So did I.” Eli said with a tight smile as he walked past them and up the ramp. “I’ll send for my things later.” He disappeared inside to start the launch sequence. Thrawn looked to his brother.

“Come, Eli’s right, we have much to catch up on.”

…

When Thrawn and Eli returned from the planet below, she had been there waiting for them. As the ramp from the shuttle lowered, Eli was already heading down.

“I thought you were-”

“Can everyone stop asking me that?” Eli shouted at her.

“Ok, I’m going to ignore that because we’re friends.” She said glaring. Eli immediately deflated, all the fight leaving him.

“I’m sorry, it’s been a rough few hours and I shouldn’t take it out on you. Look, I’m gonna go change, meet me in the lounge when your shift is done. I have a feeling you’re gonna wanna talk.”

Her face furrowed in confusion, but before she could reply, Grand Admiral Thrawn stepped out from the shuttle. Accompanied, Faro saw, by an alien that looked exactly like him save for a few facial details. Her mouth opened in shock. The Admiral paid her no mind though as he simply walked past her, calling back,

“You have the bridge for the time being Commodore. I wish not to be disturbed for the next few hours except for an emergency.” The two aliens entered the turbo lift and the door hissed shut. Karyn looked back to Eli who was smiling with no real humor.

“See you then.”

Then he too left for the lift, no doubt to go to his quarters and change. Faro was left standing alone in the near empty hangar, the sounds of mechanics and pilots mingling amongst themselves. She looked at her chrono and saw that her shift ended in 4 hours.

‘Well’, she thought, ‘At least it’s Eli’s turn to pay.’ And Stars, she couldn’t wait for that drink.

Chapter Text

The service was held on Rentor. Snow was falling softly against an empty casket. Senior Commander Mitth’raw’nuru was dressed in his military dress uniform, pressed to perfection, and leaning heavily on a cane. The search teams had stopped looking four months ago and the Mitth had waited until Thrawn was fit enough to attend the funeral.

Beside him, Admiral Ar’alani stood holding his free hand and kept holding it, long after the last rights were read. The glaciers were cold and unforgiving here on his home planet, much like the hand in Ar’alani’s. Thrawn's face was just as stiff. The only thing betraying his expression were the tears that had frozen on their way down.

The family Representatives and Aristocra had since left, probably glad to be out of the cold, but not him. His red eyes never strayed from the name carved into the headstone, the obsidian black contrasting against a gleaming white landscape.

Ar’alani eventually had to take her leave too though. She gave Thrawn’s hand a tight squeeze and told him not to stay out too long. Now it was just him and the graves of his family. He was the last of them and snow was falling on an empty casket.
…

Grand Admiral Thrawn sat across from Thrass in the officer’s conference room. For a long while, neither of them spoke, the only sound coming from the gentle vibrations of the ship’s engines. The silence was just about to get uncomfortable, when Thrawn finally spoke.

“What happened?” A loaded question in Thrass’ opinion, but one he knew his brother needed answered.

“Outbound Flight'' he said simply. “After you and Ar’alani left, we found out here were humans still alive in one of the dreadnaughts. A jedi named Lorana Jinzler found us and when J’orj left, she helped me pilot the ship to somewhere it would be safe from the ruling families.

“Unfortunately, the ship was too far damaged and we had no choice but to make a crash landing. As luck would have it, the remaining humans had moved from their place on the ship and in order to save them we had to crash with our dreadnought to the surface of a planetoid somewhere in The Redoubt. Lorana used her Jedi sorcery to save me, but she perished in the crash.”

Thrass looked sad at that. In the little time he knew her, she proved to be a truly brave and kind person. He wondered sometimes what would have happened to him if she had lived.

Thrawn was silent, his hands coming up to fold underneath his chin in deep thought. Thrass started to look around the room avoiding his eyes and continued.

“When I was finally found, it wasn’t by the colonists, but by a band of smugglers. They offered me passage off the planet in return for knowledge of hyperspace routes in and out of the Ascendancy. I refused and they threw me onto the nearest inhabited planet. It was then that I tried to make a plan to get back to Chiss Space.”

It was here that Thrawn narrowed his eyes and finally spoke.

“Then why did I bury an empty casket?” Thrass was amazed at the venom he heard in his brother’s voice, a drastic change from the happy demeanor from only an hour ago. The anger in his voice however, was nowhere to be seen on his face, the expression blank and unable to be read.

Thrass furrowed his brows. ‘That’s odd’, he thought. Thrawn could never do that when he was around. It got him into trouble more often than not when they were children. Perhaps time really does change oneself. If so, how had he himself changed?

“I tried to get back, but I didn’t know what planet I was on much less the system. No one there spoke the trade languages and I couldn't understand Basic. I can now though, I picked a few things over the years.”

“How did you find yourself on Lysatra?” Thrawn asked. The malice seemed to have disappeared from him.

“I begged around until a spacer finally gave pity on me. They happened to speak SyBisti and brought me to this system, where the trades were. I’ve been here ever since, hitchhiking my way back planet by planet.”

He looked at Thrawn again, an apologetic expression on him.

“Look, I’m sorry you had to mourn me. Believe me Thrawn, there wasn’t a day I didn’t think about you or The Ascendancy. Every day I was afraid that when I got back I'd find out that you were killed in another one of your crazy campaigns. Though I suppose exile may have been more probable.”

The rank bars on Thrawn’s chest seemed to weigh more than they ever had before.

“I wasn’t exiled. I’m on a mission. One that’s gone further than I ever thought it had to.” Thrawn said.

“They called you an Admiral.” Thrass finally looked at his younger brother who now had an older face than the last time he saw him. He looked like their father. Thrass wondered if Thrawn thought that about him.

“A position I earned fairly and with warriors fortune.” He stood up and gestured for Thrass to follow him.

“I’ll show you to your quarters. They’ll be next door to mine, so if you need anything I won't be far. The quartermaster will also stop by to get you some new clothes.”

As they walked to Thrawn’s quarters, Thrass made a note of all the personnel who saluted as they walked by.

“They respect your rank.” He said.

“They respect me. This may be a human Empire, but they are loyal to me and I, them.”

Now that gave Thrass pause. If Thrawn was on a mission, surly he couldn’t think of these humans as much more than assets, could he? The more he thought about it though, Thrawn was always protective of those under his command. Even if they did not appreciate the man himself. Were these humans different in some way? Did they actually respect Thrawn for who he was? Crazy art theories and all?

“So your loyalties lie with this “Empire”?

“My loyalties are to my people.” Thrawn didn’t speak for the rest of their walk and neither did Thrass. The elder wondered just who Thrawn was referring to when he said ‘my people’.

Finally, they reached the officer quarters and Thrawn palmed the door release.

“I will be back soon, I have an old friend to call and a ship to run. I’d like for you to stay here for the time being as you are technically not supposed to be on board.”

Thrass nodded his understanding and stepped inside. He turned before the door could close though and asked,

“An 'old friend'? Who are you calling?”

“I believe Admiral Ar’alani will be quite...delighted, when she finds out you’ve risen from the dead, brother.”

Thrawn gave a small smile as Thrass’ face paled.

“An honor I fear will be short lived.” Thrass said. Thrawn left as soon as the doors hissed shut, leaving Thrass to contemplate his impending doom.

Chapter Text

Ar’alani slapped him so hard even Thrawn saw stars. Faro and Vanto, who stood at either side of their CO, winced at the sound. Thrass’ head snapped clear to the right and everyone was surprised he was even still standing.

“It’s good to see you too, Ar’alani.” He managed, rubbing the side of his face. The welp there would surely bruise into a brilliant purple for the next few days.

“That’s Admiral Ar’alani to you.” She nearly spat. “And if you ever do that to us again I will rip your head off and feed it to Krayt Dragons.”

“Understood, Admiral.” She glared at him for a few more seconds before softening her expression and extending her arm out.

“But it is good to see you, Mitth’ras’safis.'' He accepted her arm and pulled her into a hug for good measure. “And you Mitth’raw’nuruodo.” She said after pulling away.

“Nuru-odo?” Thrass asked.

“Oh, I suppose you wouldn’t know me by that name. It was changed again while you were…gone.” Thrawn explained.

“Hm, it suits you. Congratulations.”

“How many more hours till shift change?” Eli whispered to Karyn. She looked at her chrono and internally groaned.

“6 hours.”

Although they were still a bit hungover from last night's drinking session, there was no doubt that there would be another one in the near future. Thrawn still hadn’t made any proper introductions to them nor explained who these people were or how they knew him. Not to mention this whole exchange was happening in Cheunh. And poor Eli was still trying to wrap his head around the whole, ‘long lost, not dead brother thing’.

Logically, the two knew that Thrawn must have had some friends and family back home, wherever 'home' was. They just never expected to meet any of them. And the tall woman with the sword was not at all what Faro was expecting, but it was a welcome surprise nonetheless. Perhaps she would even buy her a drink some time, Stars willing.

“And these two are?” Ar’alani asked in SyBisti. Faro groaned again. Although she could understand SyBisti well enough, she was still quite a bit rusty. Thankfully, Thrawn did the talking for them.

“This is Commodore Karyn Faro and Commander Eli Vanto. Faro, Vanto, this is Admiral Ar’alani of the Chiss Expansionary Defence Force.

“A pleasure, Admiral.” Eli said bowing slightly. He honestly wasn't sure what proper etiquette was, but bowing always seemed universal. Faro followed his lead.

“Welcome aboard the Chimaera, Admiral.”

“I thank you Commodore Faro. With the pleasantries dealt with I must tell you Grand Admiral, I had intended on contacting you before you beat me to it.”

“Why?” Thrawn asked, his red eyes glowing more intensely.

“I have news. The Vagaari have been spotted making their way into Wild Space and the Outer Rim.”

Thrawn was quiet for a handful of seconds. Thrass’ eyes widened while Eli and Faro looked confused.

“Come with me, it seems we have much to discuss.

…

Two briefings and six caf runs later, a campaign was in the works.

Mugs and data chips littered the table as Faro and Ar’alani mapped out the places where the Vagaari were spotted while Thrawn and Eli were sifting through supply reports from planets near those systems.

‘This doesn’t make any sense.’ Eli thought to himself. Aloud he said,

“These supply orders are contradicting Chiss and Imperial military reports to the systems. On paper there's nothing unusual going on, but the recent status reports you asked for suggest heightened stock piling. If we didn’t ask, we would never have known what was going on.”

“And it’s too far out of the way for anyone to ask. The perfect secret.” Faro chimed in.

Eli nodded in agreement.

“Sure is. Sir, It looks like someone’s trying really hard to keep this a secret.” He handed Thrawn another report confirming the data work.

“Who is in charge of the supply chain in the system?” Thrawn inquired.

“A company called Daymet Shipping. Their main facility is in Adumar, in the Katorrs system. I’d say it’s worth a look.”

“Admiral?” Thrawn called, still looking at the datapad in his hands.

“Cross referenced with the planets who have actually seen the Vagaari, it checks out. It’s not too far from where we are now,” Ar’alani replied.

“ETA is 12 standard hours in hyperspace Grand Admiral.” Faro put in. She had served with Thrawn long enough to know when a mission was about to take place. Ar’alani however, raised a blue black eyebrow, but said nothing. If Thrawn wanted his subordinates to make decisions for him, that was his business.

“Thank you Commodore, alert Navigation to chart course. Admiral Ar’alani, you are welcome to join the Chimaera unless you would rather follow on the Steadfast?”

Now the other eyebrow went up. Perhaps it wasn’t so much insubordination as it was seamless synchronization. ‘Not bad’, she thought.

“Transmit the coordinates to the Steadfast. Captain Wutroow will follow us.” She told him.

“Very well. Commodore, tell Navigation to jump when ready.”

“Yes sir.”

Faro left for the bridge, leaving three Chiss and an Eli to continue pouring over data.

“What happens now?” Thrass, who had thus far been silently working on familiarizing himself with the Empire and its territories, spoke up.

“Now, I suggest we get some rest. I’ll be leading a ground party to investigate the main facility and I’d rather be well prepared for it.” Thrawn said, putting his data pad down. He eyed Ar’alani, as if expecting her to argue. To his great surprise though, it was Thrass who started speaking.

“You will do no such thing.”

There was an awkward pause.

“I believe that’s enough for tonight Commander Vanto. I shall see you in the hangar when we exit hyperspace.” Thrawn ground out.

“Yes, Sir. Goodnight, Sir. Admiral, Syndic.” Eli packed up his data chips and felt relieved when the doors hissed closed. He was glad to be excluded from the usual ‘what are you thinking, you're going to get yourself killed’ spiel. For once, it wasn’t him making that speech. Ha, who’d have thought?

Back in the conference room, Thrawn was silently listening to his brother ramble about how reckless the younger was being.

“You’re being reckless. It’s too dangerous, you can’t just waltz right in, charrics blazing! This is exactly what got us into trouble the first time around. And besides, I thought you were an Admiral now. Shouldn't this kind of thing be beneath you?”

“The question is, whether it should be. What will it say about me if I just let my subordinates go on dangerous missions alone? They are under my command and as such, under my protection. It is only just that I go with them.”

“And what happened the last time you went on a mission concerning the Vagaari? Oh that’s right, you almost DIED!” Thrass shouted.

“I had help then and I have help now. Commander Vanto will be going with me and I trust him with my life as well as yours.”

Thrass fell silent at this. The last time, Thrawn had no idea that Jorj and Maris were capable of being trusted, but if what he said about Eli Vanto was true... No matter, he had made his decision.

“I'm going with you.”

“Absolutely not!” Thrawn and Ar’alani said at the same time.

“The ascendancy needs you, it would do no good to have you perish on such a routine mission.” Ar’alani argued.

“So you agree that it is a dangerous mission?” Retorted Thrass.

“The mission is routine reconnaissance. I will not argue on this, Thrass. I have just been reunited with you and I will not lose you again.”

“And the same goes for you, Thrawn. I am not letting you out of my sight.”

‘Just like old times’ Ar’alani thought bitterly.

“Stop it, the both of you. I know feelings are not a strong suit of either of you, but you must nonetheless put them aside. The Vagaari are in the known galaxy and they will conquer it if left unchecked. This mission will happen and it will be successful in assessing just how far they have infiltrated. Otherwise, the Empire and the Ascendancy will suffer the consequences.”

She glared at both of them before storming out to the temporary quarters that were given to her. The two brothers were left stunned and frightened at her outburst.

“Perhaps, it would be alright if you joined me on the ground team.” Thrawn said after he recovered.

“Yes. I trust you will have a plan that offers the least amount of danger?” Thrass implored.

“Of course,” reassured his brother.

“Very well. Alert me when we are nearing the system. Goodnight Thrawn.”

“Goodnight Thrass.”

As Thrass exited the room, Thrawn was left alone amongst the plans of the long campaign to come.

“May Warrior’s Fortune be with us all.”

He put his head in his hands. Warriors Fortune indeed.

Chapter Text

The Chimaera and the Steadfast exited hyperspace 12 hours later on the edge of the system so as not to alert any prying eyes. Eli was in the hangar waiting for Thrawn and his brother. The shuttle they were taking was one of the old republic smuggler ships from when they were trying to infiltrate a spice ring last year. The “borrowed” vessel would serve its purpose once again to disguise the three of them as clients for Daymet Shipping. Once in the main facility on Adumar, they could find out just what the Vagaari were shipping and to where. Simple enough. Right?

Thrawn and Thrass stode out of the turbo lift just then, both wearing clothes also left over from the spice ring adventure.

“Looking scruffy there, Admiral.” Eli said in SyBisti. It was always off putting when Thrawn wasn’t in uniform. He looked good no doubt about it, but Eli just thought he looked out of place. Like a Wampa on Tatooine. Thrawn was just so much more regal than a simple smuggler. Still, he did look dashing. Eli made sure to look away so he wouldn’t be caught staring like last time. No need for a repeat of that after all. He nearly died of embarrassment when Faro pointed it out.

“Scruffy?” Thrass questioned.

“To look as if one were not used to putting effort into their appearance.” Thrawn supplied. He smiled just then. Oh how the turn tables had turned. It was Thrawn who was now playing the role of translator for galaxy wide slang. Oh he couldn’t wait to teach his brother about Krayt Spit.

Thrass seemed satisfied with the answer and climbed aboard the ship. The two Imperials followed and soon they were taking off, flying out of the Chimaera’s wide hangar bay and into the cold vacuum of space.

In the cockpit, Thrawn was piloting as Eli was adjusting their coordinates in the co-pilot’s seat.
Thrass was seated behind them and worriedly looking at all the blinking instruments.

“Would you like another rundown, brother?”

Thrass looked to Thrawn, glaring at him. As if he’d forgotten the plan. They’d only gone over it ten times.

“I’m alright thank you.” Thrass however was not in fact ‘alright’. He was the most important part of the mission and he was quite frankly, a nervous wreck. Not that he’d ever let it show anyway. He was a politician dammit. Nevertheless, his brother always somehow knew when he was troubled.

It was his job to stall the Daymet overseers while Thrawn and Eli went snooping around. Thrawn was to look through the storage garages for suspicious merchandise and Eli’s job was to search for the shipping documents that would tell them just how far and wide the Vagaari have infiltrated the galaxy at large.

It was simple really, all Thrass had to do was keep the owners talking long enough for the duo to get what they came for and get back on the ship. The only problem though, was that the whole facility was huge. Thrass was good at stalling yes, but as a political opponent, not as a small talking, deal making smuggler. Suffice it to say, small talk was not his forte.

“You’ll do fine.” Thrawn tried again. He had complete faith in his brother’s abilities, always had.

That seemed to calm Thrass down a bit, but he was still anxious. If he couldn’t hold out long enough, all three of them would be captured and subjugated to who knows what kind of tourture and interrogation. Then the Vagaari would promptly take over the galaxy, destroying and enslaving trillions of innocent lives, while the Chiss and the Empire attempt to stop it in a bloody conflict that could last years, if not decades. No pressure.

Finally, they descended into the atmosphere where they were immediately hailed.

“Unidentified ship, this is air control. State your ID and purpose here.”

“This is The Vagabond and we’re here seeking services from Daymet Shipping Co.” Thrawn made sure to put an accent into his Basic. It never hurts to be careful afterall.

“Alright Vagabond you can dock at landing platform 32.”

“Thank you.”

“See that wasn’t so hard.” Eli chirped.

“Yes, but now the real mission begins. Comm check.” Thrawn put a small communicator into his ear and the others did the same. This way they could pass information to each other while apart and without the owners knowing.

“Check,” Eli said.

“Check,” Thrass mimicked.

“Check,” A voice crackled in their ears. On the bridge of the Chimaera, Commodore Faro and Admiral Ar’alani were standing next to each other and leaning over the comm station. It was Faro and Ar’alani’s job to guide Thrawn and Eli with maps of the facilities.

“Try not to get sidetracked Sir. And please be careful.” Eli heard Faro say. Thrawn arched an eyebrow even though she couldn’t see it.

“I am always careful Commodore.”

Eli scoffed and resisted the almost violent urge to roll his eyes.

“Sir, that is the biggest load of Krayt Spit in the galaxy and you know it.”

"You got that for sure, Vanto." Faro said.

Now Thrass’ eyebrow went up.

“Krate Speit?”

“Later,” Thrawn said to him. “Krayt Spit or not Commander Vanto, it’ time to greet the adversary.

Eli nodded and started the landing sequence as the other two headed for the landing ramp.

‘Alright team,’ he thought. ‘Showtime.’

As the two of them stood near the landing ramp, Thrawn was suddenly reminded of the last time he went on a mission with his brother. He didn’t say it then, and he certainly wasn’t going to say anything now, but Thrawn had a bad feeling about this.

“May warriors fortune be with us.” He murmured as the ramp was lowered.

…

The bright sunlight coming from the planet’s twin suns warmed Eli’s face as he descended the ramp behind the two Chiss. A trio of aliens were waiting to greet them below on the landing platform. ‘Oh look, the welcoming committee.’ He thought.

They were slender figures, humanoid, with dark green skin and razor sharp tusks protruding from their mouths. The leader of the group greeted them.

“Welcome to the Daymet Shipping facilities. I am Jaa Ronor, the owner of this facility. As I understand it, you’re looking to make business here?”

Thrass, who walked in front, spoke. ‘Ok Thrass, just like we rehearsed.’ At least he didn’t have to fake his heavily accented Basic like Thrawn did.

“We are. I am Metti’etes’siza. This is my brother, Metti’kel’matis. For the sake of communication, you may call us Ti’etess and Tikelma. The human is our pilot, Miccol Hoonic. As for business, we are in the market for, how shall we say, discreet, ways of moving our merchandise.”

“Of course, we take great pride in ensuring that our clients are well protected from any prying parties. Shall we talk more in my office?”

“You and I can discuss the finer details, but I’d like for my crew to have a tour of the facilities while we negotiate. We tend to err on the side of caution, what with the Empire sticking their nose everywhere out here. We’ve heard of spacers dropping shipments in this sector.”

Jaa narrowed his eyes at Thrass, giving him a once over before finally agreeing.

“I’m sure those nerf herders weren’t working for us. We never drop shipments.” Jaa shifted his gaze to Thrawn and Eli.

“Gar and Rhao can show ‘em around. He gestured for the group to follow him as he walked back to the building.

Thrass nodded and the three of them were separated with Eli and Thrawn following their respective tour guide as Thrass fell into step with Jaa. Thrass glanced one last time at his brother before turning down a hallway.

Hoping his brother could somehow hear him, Thrass thought to himself. ‘Be careful, you idiot.’

Funnily enough, Thrawn was thinking the exact same thing as he was led away.

Eli walked with the one named Rhao down another hallway and was praying to any and every deity that would hear him. ‘Please let this mission go smoothly. Just this once.’

And just like that, everything immediately went wrong.

Chapter Text

Rhao’s commlink rang. As he answered it, Eli dropped his hand to his blaster. ‘Chill out Eli, It’s probably nothing’ he thought to himself, ‘There’s no possible way, Thrawn could have jeopardized the mission in that small amount of time.’

“He’s an Imperial spy, kill him!”

Son of a bitch. Eli pulled his blaster and shot before Rhao even had a chance to hang up. Running down the hall, he commed the others on the group channel.

“Three minutes, Thrawn, three minutes! You couldn't have waited to blow our cover ‘till AFTER I was in the archives?!” All that greeted his ear however was static.

“Oh kriff.” He tried his handheld. “Thrawn? Faro? Somebody, come in!” Again, no answer from anyone. This was bad. He knew the layout of the warehouse well enough on his own, but with communications out, there was no way to know if the others were alright. Suddenly, he heard footsteps rounding the corner and he hid behind an alcove built into the wall. Peeking over the edge, he saw more of the aliens coming towards him.

“Find the human. Orders are to shoot him on sight,” came a raspy voice. The alien who spoke had armour on them and it was painted differently than the others who wore similar gear. A rank system, reasoned Eli. It seemed that Daymet was more than just a shipping company.

“What about the Chiss?” Someone asked.

“Jaa’s got one of them already. Something about using them for test runs. If you see the other one, kill ‘im.” The squad broke and went past him. Eli pressed himself against the wall to stay out of their sight. Test runs? What was that about? At least this meant Thrawn wasn't captured yet. Making a judgement call, Eli started towards the archives. If he happened to find Thrawn along the way, then great, they would find Thrass and head back to the ship like they had originally planned. If not, he would wait for as long as he possibly could.
...

“Commander Vanto, come in. Commander Vanto. Eli?” Thrawn was trapped behind a stack of crates by warehouse personnel. Blaster bolts were missing him by inches it seemed. Every now and then he would get a few shots in, but only enough to keep them from advancing towards him. Thrawn knew the second his guide reached for his commlink that his cover was blown. Since then, he booked it to the warehouse, busted open a few crates, and found a massive supply of electronics that looked like spare parts for B-1 Battle droid transmitters. Every box he checked were full to the brim with them, but no droid base. Why have the means to control when there was nothing to control? Thrawn’s curiosity was cut short when the bolts came sizzling through the air.

And now there was no communication with the ground team.

“Commodore, Admiral?” Nothing. So much for back up. No matter, he would just have to find Eli and his brother on his own and, as Eli would put it, ‘get the hell out of dodge.’ A bit difficult when he was being shot at, but he’s been through worse.

Suddenly, the shooting started to lessen as it was redirected behind the warehouse workers. A moment later and the shooting ceased entirely.

“You ok?” After 15 years serving together, he would still never get tired of hearing that voice.

“I’m alright, Commander,” Thrawn called. He stood up and saw the aftermath of Eli’s surprise ambush. “Well done. How did you find me?” Eli gave a wry smile that almost looked teasing.

“Oh, it was easy, I just heard the sound of chaos and followed that. Come on, we still need to get to the archives.” The two ran down the hallway, hiding when possible and shooting when necessary.

“Just so you know, It wasn’t my fault this time.” Thrawn said in between shots.

“Oh, really?” Eli took out another alien that was aiming for Thrawn. “So the fact that they know we’re Imperials, has nothing to do with you?”

“I never allowed my guide to hear the communication.” Thrawn looked Eli straight in the eye to show him how serious he was. “I didn’t, how would you say, ‘blow it’ this time.” They continued along, twisting through the seemingly endless passageways until finally they came to the archives entrance. Two personnel were at the computer consoles. They looked up and saw the two imperials and wasted no time shooting. Thrawn and Eli returned fire, making quick work of them before approaching the consoles.

“But if you didn’t and I didn’t, then…?” The implication dawned on both of them at the same time.

“No. Not possible, he wouldn’t,” Thrawn asserted. Thrass would die before he gave any information up. Not exactly a comforting thought, but it was a requirement to undergo that kind of training in the Junior Syndicure as a precaution, should anyone high ranking be captured by enemy hands.

“I believe you,” Eli said. “But it’s the only explanation we have right now.” It was clear he didn’t want the subject to drop, but he got to work looking through the data anyway.

“Blast, they were erasing files.”

Rapid footsteps could be heard not far from them. Thrawn raised his blaster. “Is there anything you can recover?” He asked.

“Yeah, but it’s gonna take me a minute.”

“I’ll buy you as much time as I can.” Eli looked up from the console to see Thrawn position himself at the entrance. Hurrying, he went through the files as fast as he could, barely even flinching when the sound of plasma bolts could be heard hitting the walls around him. At last, by going through backdoors embedded in the code, he managed to find everything the company was trying to hide. There was one file that caught his eye, though.

“Oh my gods,” he breathed. Eli downloaded all the data to a chip and sprinted to the doors.

“Thrawn! We gotta find Thrass!” The Chiss had just finished eliminating the last of the aliens as he turned around.

“Already on my priorities, Commander.”

“No, I mean I think I know how we were ratted out.” Thrawn narrowed his eyes.

“I already told you, it’s not possible, he would never-” Eli interrupted him by showing the file on the small data pad he had brought. Thrawn stopped in his thoughts as the full scope of what Eli was showing him processed. His face turned grim and for just a flash, was full of something Eli thought could be anger.

“We’ll head to the landing platform and retrace his steps from there.” The two rushed back to the ship. As it turns out, they needn’t have worried about finding Thrass. He was waiting for them when they arrived. Along with Jaa.

Eli and Thrawn raised their blasters to the businessman. Thrass was kneeling next to Jaa, his face bloody and eyes unseeing. Eli glanced at his friend, but Thrawn gave no indication of what he could be feeling. He couldn’t tell what was going on in that brilliant mind.

“Let him go,” shouted Thrawn.

“And give up a perfectly good lab rat? I don’t think the Vagaari would be too pleased with that, Grand Admiral.”

Eli’s eyes widened as Thrawn’s narrowed.

“Oh yes, I know who you are. This one hasn’t given me everything yet, but then again, we’re still working out the bugs on these things.” Jaa crouched down and grabbed a fist full of Thrass’ hair, revealing a microchip on the side of his head.

“I won’t ask again,” growled Thrawn. Jaa stood up, a sly smile on his face.

“Oh, I’m sure you won’t. But I’ll ask you this, which do you prefer, a live brother or a dead one?” He looked Thrawn straight in the eye, but the Chiss did not back down.

“You need him alive,” Thrawn answered. “You won’t harm him.” He didn’t lower his blaster. Why would he? He’s played this game before. Thrawn’s confidence however disappeared as Jaa smiled and laughed.

“Do I? There are plenty of stars in the sky, as they say. And besides, who ever said I was going to hurt him?” He leaned down and whispered something in Thrass’ ear. Thrass moved his hand to the small blaster hidden on the inside of his jacket. He moved quickly, and in no time, the gun was held to his head by his own hand.

“Put your weapons down or he pulls the trigger.” He didn’t have to tell them twice. Thrawn and Eli threw their blasters down to the platform floor. Jaa laughed.

“Well, as fun as this has been, I do believe I have a present for the Vagaari. And I’m sure they’ll be thrilled to see a familiar face.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a commlink.

“Come pick us up.” Not a minute later, a ship came from the east side of the complex and hovered in midar next to them. The ramp lowered and Jaa took that as his cue. Roughly grabbing Thrass by the arm, he hauled the Chiss to his feet and walked him to the ship.

“Till our next meeting! I have a feeling it’ll be a while!” Jaa screamed over the engines. The ramp started to close and the ship was going over the platform. Thrawn sprang into action, running as fast as he could towards the departing vessel.

“Thrawn, wait!”

But it was too late. The ramp closed completely and the sublights kicked in. The force of it caused Thrawn to fall to the ground and sent him sliding off the edge of the platform to the rocky desert below. The ship flew off into the atmosphere and was soon out of sight. Eli rushed to the spot where Thrawn had disappeared, and looking over the ledge, he saw him, hanging by his fingers on a structure beam.

Eli reached out his arm, pulling him up. After Thrawn was safe, they heard a disembodied voice. It was coming from the intercom system of the warehouse.

“Self Destruction in 2 minutes.” They looked at eachother.

“We just can’t catch a break, can we?” sighed Eli. The two scrambled to their feet and ran to the Vagabond. Skipping the preflight checks, Thrawn started the engines.

“Punch it!” Eli yelled. Using the sublight engines, they rocketed out of there just as the blast obliterated the warehouse. Eli could feel the heat and shock wave through the durasteel walls of their hold. He breathed a sigh of relief when space became visible.

Once they broke the planet’s gravity, the Chimaera immediately hailed them.

“Admiral, are you and Vanto alright? What happened?” The blue figure of Commodore Faro blinked into existence. She looked beyond concerned, no doubt near panic at the loss of communication and again at the facilities explosion. Thrawn paid it no mind however, as his thoughts were focused on something else at the moment.

“Have yourself and Admiral Ar’alani meet us in my briefing room. There is much we need to discuss.” He cut the transmission and concentrated on flying. As Eli wondered how they were going to explain everything to not one, but two angry superior officers, he glanced at Thrawn. He was shocked at what he saw. All the terrifying stories he had heard about the Chiss while he was growing up suddenly made sense. Thrawn wasn’t just angry or full of rage.

Those glowing red eyes had murder in them.

Chapter Text

Hey everyone! First off, thank you so much for all the love and support for this fic! It's been a long time since I've written for this, but I came back to it a few months ago and I decided to rewrite it. I think my writing has gotten better so I wanted to give this another try with a bit of a more serious and cohesive tone. That being said, I still do like this version so I'll keep it up for now. I've linked the new fic as a 'next in this series'. I hope you like it and I'd love to know what you think! Thanks again. :)