Chapter Text
“For if one is remembered by a friend, one is never truly gone.” Thrawn
They had waited for nearly an hour before they were finally allowed into the private room in the Republic frigate Sato’s med-bay. Admiral Ar'alani and Mid Captain Eli Vanto of the Chiss Ascendency and Admiral Karyn Faro of Seventh Fleet carefully stepped through the entrance and stood at the foot of the bed. Their host, General Syndulla, remained behind and watched from the doorway.
It had been an uncomfortable wait. None of them had said much while Syndulla tried her best to keep the mood from becoming too heavy.
The quiet was in stark contrast to the frantic activity of the last few days. The last-minute planning, the battle itself, the aftermath as Ar'alani and Faro worked together to hunt down the few ships that had escaped destruction.
That battle where all had seemed lost until the Chimaera suddenly veered out of formation to perform a micro-jump right into the heart of the enemy formation, taking the Grysk flagship head on. That seemingly reckless maneuver, a fool’s hope, had decided the war. For Chimaera had exploited one of the Grysks’ standard tactics, their compulsion to always go after the nearest enemy. For a few seconds, Chimaera was that nearest enemy, threatening their flagship even though the Star Destroyer itself had no hope to ever escape from the Grysk force it found itself in. Those seconds had been enough, though. The combined forces of Republic, Ascendency and Seventh Fleet ships - along with various allies from within the Chaos - took advantage of their adversaries’ change of focus and went on the offensive, throwing all their might into the enemy ships in one last drive to victory. Desperation turned to triumph as Grysk ships were destroyed, self-destructed or escaped to hyperspace.
As relative strangers to this sector, the Republic fleet stayed behind for rescue, salvage and the inevitable cleanup operations while the Chiss and Seventh Fleet went after the escaping Grysk.
Now, two days later, Ar'alani and Faro had returned to recover their own dead and wounded.
In this last hour while they waited it felt as if the adrenaline had left them all at once, leaving physical and mental exhaustion in its wake. And the realisation of what the victory had cost them.
Before her mad dash at the Grysk, Chimaera had deployed her escape pods, crammed full beyond capacity to allow all those to escape who were not essential to complete its final mission. Those that remained behind had all volunteered. As had many who had been forced to abandon ship. The crew had formed close bonds over the last decade and when it came to the end most would have chosen to go down with their friends rather than to seek safety. But all had obeyed the Grand Admiral’s command. All life was sacred and those that remained behind were comforted that they would ensure most of their friends, their family, were going to have a chance at peace and a future. Most reluctant had been Captain Hammerly, protesting to Thrawn all the way to her assigned escape pod while he patiently pointed out that the surviving crew would need a captain while the ship was going to be perfectly fine without her as he had held that rank before and was more than capable of ordering one last jump. Of course Hammerly had tried to argue the same point - just in reverse - but in the end she had given in. The relief in Thrawn’s face when she finally agreed to leave had made her heart ache.
So it was only a skeleton crew that had been on board when Chimaera faced the Grysk flagship and of those most had managed to hold out in their badly damaged but not quite destroyed Star Destroyer after their allies had taken the fight to the Grysk.
Hera’s ship had been closest to Chimaera once the battle was over and had led the search and rescue teams which boarded the ship. Indeed she had not even waited for approval but had organised shuttles and medical teams once she saw that they would not face further resistance. Former allegiances did not matter. Comrades stick together and on that day the crew of the Chimaera was as close to them as their Rebel friends had been in the old days of the Alliance. Fate clearly was no stranger to irony.
Standing now in that small room on the Sato, Hera closed her eyes as she remembered those tense hours. The surprise at how many had survived. Injured, shaken but alive. The destruction and carnage on what had been the pristine bridge of an Imperial Star Destroyer. The trauma teams working frantically on those most critically injured.
She slowly exhaled and cast her eyes over the room again. The same scenes had played out on many ships that day. No victory comes without cost and it was hard to feel true joy or relief when faced with the sorrow of seeing friends and comrades die.
Of those still alive on Chimaera’s bridge, Thrawn had been injured the worst. It had taken the trauma team a long time to stabilise him for transport and even then it had been touch and go until they reached the Sato.
Ar'alani and Faro had been overjoyed when Hera had informed them that Chimaera had, in fact, not been destroyed as both had originally assumed. Overjoyed in relative terms - Faro visibly so, Ar'alani much more subtly. But Hera had seen enough of the stern Chiss admiral over the last few weeks to recognise the signs of relief on her face when she spoke to her over com. As soon as their task allowed, both admirals had re-joined her on the Sato, Ar'alani taking Eli Vanto with her.
Earlier that day, Faro had already visited the other Chimaera survivors who were currently recovering on the ship. It was almost overwhelming after having given them up for dead. And it gave her the strength she knew she was going to need for what was to come. After a few more words to Commander Pyrondi (who could have been a captain in her own right but had refused to give up Chimaera’s weapons for any job or promotion she had been offered over the years) Faro had then joined Ar'alani and Eli as they waited to be finally allowed to see Thrawn.
Faro hoped her face was as passive as Ar'alani’s. She knew or at least guessed what the other woman must be feeling but it was impossible to read it on her face. Vanto was a different matter. He was trying to put a brave face on but his emotions ran a lot closer to the surface than his admiral’s.
Faro didn’t blame him. She had accepted Thrawn’s death as soon as she realised what he was planning to do, had silently wished him Warrior’s Fortune as she saw Chimaera perform her micro-jump. It had strengthened her resolve as they tore through Grysk ships, as she and Ar'alani pursued those who had escaped the battle. Every shot was a small stab at revenge.
And then Syndulla had called and told her Chimaera had somehow managed to survive. That Thrawn was alive. Thinking back to that moment of pure elation hurt Faro deeply. How cruel the universe could be. When they came here she knew he had been injured. She just hadn’t been prepared for how serious it was. She certainly hadn’t been prepared to say good-bye.