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Jorj Car'das's saliva tasted bitter as his eyes locked with Thrawn's.
He understood the distant glaze that coated the Senior Captain's pupils, the steady yet veiled tremor that grazed his hand as he brought the commlink to his lips.
"Denied." He murmured in response to Aristocra Formbi's request to leave the charred remains of Outbound Flight, of the ship he destroyed.
Admiral Ar'alani remained silent, her eyes wide with a nameless expression – perhaps fury, most likely acceptance.
For a heartbeat, nobody spoke, as a cold disapproving silence blanketed the fluorescently lit cabin.
The chime of Ar'alani's com cut sharply through the stillness.
Car'das's mind felt too preoccupied to mentally translate her sharp words and fierce tone.
With a soft sigh, Ar'alani turned to face Thrawn, her features plastered with both frustration and reluctance as she raised herself to her full height. "Senior Captain Thrawn, I am placing you under arrest on the charge of knowingly committing a preemptive strike and the endangerment of civilians."
Car'das watched as a faint, yet sad smile touched the corner of Thrawn's lips as he shook his head. "The warrior's own survival is of only secondary importance."
This time it was Thrass who cut in. "Do not do anything you cannot nullify, Thrawn." He softly hissed, a hand automatically meeting the younger Chiss's shoulder.
For a heartbeat, neither Chiss said anything, as Thrawn neither leaned into nor pulled away from Thrass's touch.
When Thrawn spoke, his voice was soft. "I will stay."
Car'das felt his pulse quicken as his gaze returned to the Senior Captains for a moment.
Admiral Ar'alani's voice sounded muted, distant as she harshly grabbed Thrawn's shoulder. "No, Senior Captain, you will not."
Thrawn took a step backward, freeing himself from both Ar'alani and Thrass. "You understand the repercussions of a single-family claiming this ship better than anyone." His tone was strained. "The Ascendancy will never recover from such imbalance."
A grim shadow touched the Admiral's features as her gaze directly met Thrawn's. "My hands are tied, Senior Captain."
Neither of the Chiss spoke as Thrawn inclined his head downward. Car'das couldn't wholly discern if Thrawn was apologizing or saying goodbye; he wasn't sure he wanted to know.
"I will stay," Thrawn repeated, his voice firm.
For half a dozen heartbeats, Thrawn's gaze found Thrass's.
"We'll both be destroyed by this," Ar'alani spoke through clenched teeth. "Where will you take it?"
"Pesfavri, the nearest Defense Fleet base."
As the Admiral's lips parted, Car'das cleared his throat
"I'm not under Chiss command, Admiral," he said. "I'd like to stay aboard a while longer too."
Ar'alani's gaze swept over him briefly as a cold sweat plastered her forehead. "Permission granted."
Car'das nodded as a ragged breath seeped from his lips as he met Thrawn's slight yet appreciative nod.
"Then we leave you," Ar'alani said, gesturing to Car'das before her gaze fell on Thrawn. "May warrior's fortune smile upon your efforts."
She continued towards the blast doors without another word, not waiting for the Syndic to follow.
Car'das took a step closer to the wall, fighting the gnawing itch of intrusion as he watched Thrawn silently exchange some un-knowable artifact into the eldest Mitth brother's grasp.
"Return to sea and ice." Thrass's voice was barely audible as he pulled Thrawn into a tight embrace.
Car'das cast his eyes down, not wholly sure if Thrawn returned the gesture or not.
After another moment of silence, Thrass pulled back as he whispered something Car'das could not understand.
Thrawn didn't speak as he watched his brother go, stealing one last long lingering look before Thrass vanished out of sight.
Meeting Thrawn's gaze, Car'das swallowed a wave of nausea as he studied Thrawn's oddly stiff posture. He wanted to say something, anything, yet every word tasted like ash against his tongue.
Wordlessly, Thrawn's calloused hand brushed against his own.
Taking a steady breath, Car'das nodded. "I trust you."
The warmth of Thrawn's hand idled for a moment longer. "Thank you." The Chiss said softly. "Dreadnaught one is the only place we hold a chance of changing the allotted course."
"You really think we can get this thing all the way to a military base?" Car'das asked as his hands returned to his sides.
"I do." Thrawn's voice was firm, so steadfast that Car'das almost believed it.
Giving the Thrawn a final, grateful nod, Car'das fell into place behind him, careful to keep his gaze plastered on the far wall as the sharp, sick odor of death touched his nostrils.
Yet, not even he could fully suppress his grimace as his pistol seemed to grow heavier with each passing step. It was an odd sensation to pray for the continuation of death rather than encounter hostile life.
Few men enjoyed killing – it was a truth every smuggler knew. The vast majority could tolerate the momentary blindness that engulfed their vision as they pulled the trigger. Some could even withstand the pale, hungry eyes of the ghosts who encompassed every sober moment.
Car'das had never taken a life.
He couldn't count the times his arm had been rigid, finger trembling as it graced the trigger, yet no light left the muzzle.
Qennto's bruises, a constant reminder of his failure, had stayed for weeks. Car'das wasn't sure they would ever truly heal.
But Thrawn was different; he took life yet held remorse. He took life and understood that he would haunt someone just like his own ghosts one day. Death was a cycle for soldiers like Thrawn, a hopeful means of willing life to grow in the absence left behind.
The two worked in busy silence as they prepped the ship for flight – Thrawn at the navicomputer and Car'das at the helm, re-calibrating the controls for manual overdrive.
It was a task the smuggler had completed countless times aboard the Bargain Hunter. There was something so internally profound in aligning the ship's heart for the journey ahead. Car'das had been so certain it was a task that would never turn sour nor be tainted by the passage ahead.
He had been wrong.
"It is time." Thrawn said, his voice grim as he motioned for Car'das to approach the controls.
"Do you know how to fly this thing?" It wasn't that Car'das doubted Thrawn; rather, the controls were singularly labeled in Aurebesh – a language the Senior Captain had scarcely learned how to read a month ago.
Thrawn answered with a sharp, affirmative nod.
The Chiss's hands moved methodically over the controls as he engaged the hyperdrive. "It is evident that the Jedi pilot this ship through their connection to the force.
Car'das wiped his forehead on the back of his palm. "What does that mean for us?"
Thrawn looked grim as he turned his gaze to meet the cold, distant shadow of the Ascendancy, almost as if he were trying to memorize the position of each planet amongst the untouched, empty atmosphere. "It is not going to be an easy journey."
The smuggler swallowed. "I understand."
As Thrawn's eyes met his, Car'das couldn't describe the dull ache that wormed itself into his chest. "You can still leave, Jorj."
Slowly, Car'das shook his head.
"I've made up my mind Thrawn." He paused, allowing his hand to meet the skin of Thrawn's exposed wrist. "I'm staying."
For a heartbeat, neither of them spoke.
"Thank you," Thrawn whispered as he pulled away. "I will be engaging the hyperdrive; I need you to be sure that both the equipment status and controls remain in their proper alignment.
Car'das dutifully inclined his head as he positioned himself at the Dreadnaught's helm.
As a metallic groan coursed through the body of the ship, Car'das couldn't wholly bring himself to weigh the question if anybody would ever see them again.
The shimmering haze of hyperspace made Car'das's stomach churn as Outbound Flight slipped farther into the unknown.
The two had scarcely exchanged more than a handful of words during their navigation through hyperspace – each man too lost in their own separate spheres of concentration.
Car'das usually wasn't one to complain about his assigned duties but maintaining the ship as it seemingly tore itself apart was hard work; it was hideously hard work.
"Jorj." Thrawn's voice came out in a startling reptilian hiss, forcing Car'das to turn his already overstrained neck. "The hyperdrive is failing."
Muttering an old curse under his breath, Car'das quickly shifted across the cabin, glancing briefly at the drive's monitor.
Instinctively, Car'das felt his blood drop a degree. He didn't need to be a certified technician to understand that the flashing screen accompanied by tendrils of greasy off-white smoke that threatened to consume the Chiss were not a harbinger to success.
"What do we do?" The Corellian shot back as he frantically activated the vessels cooling unit.
Thrawn didn't speak as he aggressively ejected the flux converter in a last-ditch effort to release the pressure from the already overheated drive. "If it shuts down, it will not start again."
Despite the shrill screech of sirens, Car'das could still make out the grimness that coated his voice. "What is the minimum we can make it to Pesfavri in?"
The Chiss didn't respond; Car'das could only assume he was playing out the calculations in his head.
"Thrawn," Car'das repeated, resenting the audible taste of pleading that coated his tongue.
“Seven.”
Seven. Seven micro jumps were no small feat for an experienced pilot with a functioning ship. Such a task required an almost untouchable environment coupled with perfect conditions.
Unfortunately, Car'das only possessed a singular functioning captain.
Letting a bead of sweat trickle down his temple, Car'das caught Thrawn's determined stare as they continued onwards.
They were halfway through the fifth jump when the hyperdrive finally gave out.
Despite living aboard the Bargain Hunter for the past five years, Car'das was little better off than useless when it came to repairing hyperdrives. In fact, it had been because of his own meddling with the Hunter's drive that the freighter had been propelled into the unknown regions to begin with.
Wiping his grease-stained palms against his pants, Car'das neared Thrawn. "No chance at fixing it?" He asked.
Thrawn's hair was unkempt with humidity as he took a short step back from the hyperdrives shell. "Not by me, possibly not by anyone outside of a specialist."
The Corellian didn't bother hiding his grimace as he scanned over their position in relation to shipping yards. "Bilbringi is the closest repair zone, and even that is over thirty parsecs away." He paused. "What of the other five dreadnaughts? Are they in any better shape?"
Thrawn's gaze drifted out the canopy. "I have run the status report on each vessel, none of their hyperdrives are operational either. This system will be our destination."
"Alright." Car'das said, desperate for an ounce of optimism regarding their current situation. "The Delta-Twelve craft is still unharmed, lets shut down the drive, contact Pesfavri, and return to the Ascendancy."
"I do not think it would be wise to shut down the drive," Thrawn mused aloud. "I do not believe it will start again if power is completely cut from it."
"We can't just allow the vessel to aimlessly drift through space."
"I'm inclined to agree." Thrawn said as he peered over Car'das's navigational board.
He couldn't help but savor Thrawn's warmth as the Chiss’s hand brushed against his own, it was a comfort he wouldn't speak aloud, yet one Thrawn knew he needed.
With an approving hum, Thrawn's finger softly rapped against the screen. "We'll lower the ship here."
Wordlessly, Car'das nodded as he ran Outbound Flight's sensors, confirming Thrawn's initial observation; the planet's orbit was high, meaning, hypothetically, if everything went as planned, the ship would be cradled by gravity, unable to float away. "Are you sure it's large enough? Less gravity means less stability in the orbit from the aggravation of passing objects."
Thrawn shrugged. "We don't exactly have the room to be selective about where we deposit the ship." He shifted closer to Car'das. "Less atmosphere might not be a downfall in this situation; it merely means that the orbit may decay. We are still within our vectors range."
Car'das felt the tips of his ears burn as he silently nodded. Despite being more perceptive than Maris and Qennto, not even, he was wholly immune from Thrawn's truth. "Let's just hope the drive holds out for us." He said softly.
It took them over two hours to reach their target planetoid.
The hyperdrive carried them both until their final orbital approach before giving a last, pitiful surge and dying completely.
"We're not aligned," Car'das whispered, hot bile rising in his throat as his gaze remained fixed on the nav computer. "Fifteen orbits from now we'll hit the surface."
Thrawn didn't speak as his eyes further narrowed on the diagram before them.
"The curve, it bends too far inwards." The smuggler repeated, not wholly sure if he was informing Thrawn or merely preparing himself for the worst.
"We are going to have to land the vessel." The Chiss muttered under his breath.
"It's not designed to land, you know that." Car'das paused, anxiously dragging his hand against his sweat-soaked scalp. "Could we still make orbit?"
Thrawn made a low sound in the back of his throat as he shifted from the computer and towards the engineer controls.
Car'das couldn't be sure what exactly they hoped to find scattered amongst the sea of red lights.
"Two of the forward braking and maneuvering jets are still operative."
The smuggler's brow furrowed, being able to manipulate the rapidly corroding shell of Outbound Flight seemed almost useless considering their current position. And yet, Car'das still knew better than to doubt Thrawn – whatever idea he had was infinitely better than waiting for the ship to consume itself. "What do you have in mind?"
Thrawn dropped to his knees as his fingers raced against the Dreadnaught's controls. "We've slipped out of the planet's gravitational field and depleted our first of fifteen orbits." Car'das could still detect the audible strain hidden just beneath his words despite the Senior Captain's measured tone. "I've located an enclosed valley that I believe will be deep enough to hold us."
Car'das had to swallow the urge to physically shake Thrawn. "Enclosed valleys imply a sudden stop." He did not like where this journey had deposited them.
Briefly, Thrawn turned his neck, softening his features as he met Car'das's gaze. "The drop would be somewhat less violent."
The Corellian's eyes merely widened in an exaggerated gesture as he turned back to his own screen. "I suppose we don't have any other options." He grimaced.
Car'das couldn't fully remember what he thought was going to happen when he agreed to stay with Thrawn – perhaps he truly had been foolish enough to believe that they would make it to the base to begin with.
But Pesfavri was lightyears away, and he would be damned if they didn't complete their mission, not after everything they endured.
"Can we reach it with the drive gone?" Car'das asked as he keyed up the analysis.
"The valley is not far from our current orbital path," Thrawn replied. "We will use the maneuvering jets to reach our desired position and to give us an amount of deceleration before impact."
Car'das swallowed hard; Thrawn was serious about crashing the ship.
Glancing at the Senior Captain's screen, Car'das nodded. "Alright, how are we going to do this."
Thrawn's eyes narrowed in concentration as he spoke. "We are here, in Dreadnaught one, and our point of escape, Delta-Twelve is in Dreadnaught three. In order for D-3 to remain as undamaged as possible, we must rotate Outbound Flight to put D-6 on the bottom."
"It will take the initial shock and slow the vessels rate of impact." Car'das finished.
"Very good," a small smile tugged at the corner of Thrawn's lips as he met the Corellian's gaze. "If all things go accordingly, our Dreadnaught should remain relatively unscathed."
Car'das could feel the tension seeping from his muscles as Thrawn spoke; they were going to make it; after all, they would return to the Ascendancy.
"We should begin our landing operation momentarily –"Thrawn's words died on his tongue as the harsh chime of a Republic commlink echoed throughout the cabin.
For a heartbeat, Car'das and Thrawn's eyes locked as an unfamiliar voice broke through the static.
"Hello?" The voice of a human male asked. "Jedi Jinzler? You there somewhere? This is Chas Uliar. We got tired of waiting so we all came up to D-Four. Jinzler?"
Car'das was almost certain that Thrawn's hauntingly nameless expression was perhaps the closest one to fear he possessed.
The smuggler didn't wait for Thrawn's input before he raced to the comm station, his fingers frantically moving over the keypad as he attempted to connect with the same frequency.
"Get everybody back to the storage container." Car'das practically yelled into the machine as he slipped out of Sy Bisti. "I repeat, do not leave the container."
"Jinzler, are you there?" Unliar's voice came again. "Jedi, if you've cut out on us, I'm going to be really upset with you."
"Stay put, everything will be alright!" Panic turned Car'das's blood cold as he tried again. "Chas Unilar, repeat that you hear my voice."
But there was no response, only heavy silence.
"He cannot hear you," Thrawn said quietly. "The comm is not transmitting on his end."
The Chiss's speech sounded muddled as Car'das plastered his face against the viewport, his heart only sinking as he cataloged Dreadnaught fours position.
Slowly turning back to face Thrawn, Car'das didn't bother shielding the evident emotion plastered on his features. "Why Dreadnaught four?"
Thrawn didn't speak for a moment as he extended his hand, resting the pads of his fingertips against Car'das's arm. "Does it matter now?"
The question left a metallic taste in the smuggler's mouth – Thrawn was right, how the passengers found their way into the parallel vessel, let alone survived the Chiss's massacre was unimportant. Their path of survival meant nothing, and yet their survival meant everything.
"We don't have a choice." Car'das said through numb lips. "This was their home Thrawn, it was not their fault C'baoth didn't listen."
Thrawn’s expression didn't flicker. "We will have to rotate and put dreadnaught four on top."
Car'das didn't move as the words left his tongue. "Which will put our vessel on the bottom."
If anyone other than Thrawn was standing inches away from Car'das, he was almost certain he would have retched.
Despite being familiar with death and its embrace, the Corellian still wasn't wholly comfortable with the notion – he wasn't sure it was ever possible to be.
Car'das knew death was inescapable; it was the birthright of every Corellian to become akin with the Five Brothers, the overseers of continuity and necrosis.
But knowing rarely made anything easier.
"We have no choice." Car'das whispered again. "They don't deserve to die."
"It's only an assumption that the bottom dreadnaught will take enough of the impact to leave to others intact." Thrawn quietly muttered. "But I agree, we have to try and keep their dreadnaught as far out of the valley as possible."
For a moment, neither man spoke as a mournful silence blanketed the Dreadnaught.
"There is still time for you to leave, Jorj."
It was an idea Car'das didn't consider for a moment as he tightly squeezed Thrawn's hand. "I'm staying."
Thrawn met his eyes for a heartbeat longer before tilting his head downward in a grave gesture.
It was difficult to discern who initiated the embrace. Car'das couldn't bring himself to wholly care as his vision blurred with salt.
Bringing his forehead to Thrawn's, Car'das allowed his eyes to close, omitting everything except the Chiss before him. "I wouldn't trade meeting you for a different ending." He whispered.
Thrawn didn't speak as he pulled the human closer, letting his face rest in the crook of Car'das's neck.
"Someone will come here someday," the Corellian whispered into Thrawn's shoulder. "The colonists will survive; this won't be for nothing."
"May warriors fortune smile on both our efforts." Thrawn's voice was muffled against the fabric of Car'das's jacket.
"It already has."
Neither Car'das nor Thrawn let their embrace falter, not when the Dreadnaught slipped into the planet's gravitational field, nor when the vessel kissed the uneven ground.