Chapter Text
"So, Ylla, how is work?" Karyn Faro asked, sitting opposite Commander Hammerly at a table in the senior officers' mess.
"If I could, I'd sit down and cry," she snorted, still eyeing the menu screen and typing in her order for the waiter droid.
"Complain to the one who runs the ship?" was Faro's amused reply.
"Am I not doing so?" Ylla cocked a brow at her.
"I don't run this ship," Faro shrugged, scanning the code with her datapad and reading the menu for the day. They still had fresh food available from their last planetside visit. It was a nice change.
"Thrawn then?" Hammerly had picked up the water jug and filled their glasses.
"Thanks. No, he runs the fleet," Faro absentmindedly said, placing her order.
"Junior Captain Mells it is then," Hammerly sighed.
"... He takes orders from me," Faro smirked and made a playful toast gesture towards her. "And I take orders from Thrawn."
"Great, I'll be running in circles..."
"Welcome to naval bureaucracy."
"Civilians call it space hell ." Hammerly said dryly.
"They are not wrong," Faro pointed out. Her datapad beeped with a specific chime and she turned on the screen.
"Oh my, do you still play that old game?" Ylla rolled her eyes, recognising the sound.
"I do," Faro tapped on the notification: her adversary had made their move, it was her turn now.
"It's old as fuck," Hammerly bent over the table to check what she was doing, so Faro showed her her screen. It was an open strategy world game, where players took turns to move their fleet, manage their colonies and attack their advances.
"I'd say that no one under forty plays it." Hammerly snorted.
"How old are you?" Faro asked, loading the report screen to see what the player who was trying to conquer this section had done.
"34."
"See you here soon then" Faro said with sarcasm "You will be surprised at how popular this game is among the engineering and IT sections."
"They are all nerds, no doubt they love it."
Faro gave her a mean look. "We are all nerds here."
"Wait, you enlisted in engineering and later switched to command, right?"
Faro hummed in response. She had set her datapad on the table and was tapping her moves for her turn on the game.
"Are you attacking anyone?" Ylla asked.
"Oh, I thought this was a game for old people?" Faro gave her a wry smile.
"Just making polite conversation." Ylla pretended not to look interested but she wasn't fooling anyone. Certainly not the Commodore. She gave a laugh and threw up her hands in defeat.
"Ok, you win. I used to play this a while back, so... Wanna fill me in?"
Faro pushed her datapad over.
"I thought I would give this sector a try." She indicated a zone next to hers. "Its current owner has put up a very soft defense. They're practically begging to be conquered."
Ylla analysed the map.
"Huh, that would give you quite a nice set of additional resources. Good plan."
She was about to ask Faro another question when she noticed people stiffening at the tables closer to the door.
"Quick, change the program." She pushed the datapad back to her friend. "The Grand Admiral's coming this way."
Faro expertly swapped the game with a perfectly innocent work schedule. After years of playing the game, hiding it from prying eyes had become second nature. And it wasn't a moment too soon.
"Commodore, Commander," Thrawn's deep voice came from behind her. "Mind if I join you?"
"Of course, sir, you are more than welcome," Faro conceded, pointing at the chairs in front of them.
Their shift was over, they were off duty now, but military ranks were always observed, especially around the Grand Admiral. Hammerly and Faro didn't do that much while off duty, they had been serving together for a couple years already and had become good friends.
Thrawn sat down and got his glass filled by Hammerly.
"Thank you." He didn't need to check the menu. As usual, the kitchen knew what to serve the Grand Admiral. He followed a sort of special diet, probably due to his alien nature. It was more particular than special: his dietary needs required a higher amount of protein and sugar, and that was reflected in the meals he was served.
"Sir, have you finally considered Commander Tarre's offer to join the fleet games?" Hammerly asked, a subtle teasing tone in her voice. "The hand to hand combat team needs someone... Capable"
Thrawn gave her an unreadable look for a few seconds before slowly raising the corners of his lips.
"Is that so?"
"It is, sir," Faro weighed in. "Have you seen them? Their last fight was embarrassing to watch."
"Not just to watch," Hammerly sighed. "My opposite number on the Admonitor still teases me about our team's performance."
Faro laid a hand on her friend's arm.
"Ah well. Never mind. I guess Chimaera can't be good at everything."
The two women exchanged an exasperated glance, then both turned to look at Thrawn.
"This is the point where you are supposed to jump in to defend the honor of your ship, sir." Hammerly said.
"But the Admonitor is also my ship," Thrawn explained patiently.
"Not where the fleet games are concerned, sir," Faro said in an equally patient tone.
"There each ship counts as its own unit. And the highest ranking officer of each ship is its leader. And with Chimaera being your flag ship..."
"I am the leader of the fleet's worst hand to hand combat team." Thrawn finished for her.
"I am afraid you are, sir." Hammerly confirmed. "But we understand, you are too busy and as the Commodore said, we can't be good at everything."
"Indeed," Thrawn mused. There was a gleam in his eyes that hadn't been there before. "Chimaera should not aim for good . It should aim for the best . And if I understand you correctly, you are implying that by being impartial I have deprived our ship of a valuable team member?"
Faro raised her eyebrows slightly and cocked her head.
"With all due respect, sir, we are not implying, we are stating a fact."
Thrawn took a sip from his glass.
"I suppose I could spend some of my training time with our hand to hand combat team. If we defeated the Admonitor, would you consider our honor restored?"
Hammerly grinned evilly. "I would consider our honor restored if we pounded them into dust... Sir," She added belatedly.
"Then we shall endeavor to do so," Thrawn said. His voice was as calm as ever but his eyes shone mischievously.
"My, my, Grand Admiral," Faro said with a grin. "I didn't realize you were this competitive over a game."
"Games are just practice for the real thing, Commodore," Thrawn replied calmly. "And I will use all the practice I can get. Whether it's in hand to hand combat or other forms of competition."
"Remind me never to play Dejarik against him," Hammerly muttered to Faro.
"Never play against him at anything that requires strategy," Faro said, acting as if she was telling Ylla a secret, but in a tone which Thrawn - who pretended was busy with his napkin - could hear perfectly well.
The serving droid came by with their dinner. Faro’s and Hammerly's had been delayed to time it with the Grand Admiral's. As it was customary, due to safety reasons, Thrawn's meal came in a sealed tray, so no one would tamper with his food. In addition, a trooper was tasked with escorting the serving droid from the kitchen area to the mess.
"Every game requires strategy," Thrawn pointed out, breaking the seal on the tray. A wisp of vapor escaped and he leaned subtly in to smell it. "Otherwise, it is a raffle."
Faro smiled, "That may explain why the bingo nights were cancelled."
Hammerly snorted "These were cancelled because bingo is an old people's game," she blinked. "Oh, sorry, sir"
Faro was biting her lip so as not to laugh.
"They were cancelled because no one wanted to organize them." Faro's smile disappeared and she tried to cover her slip, clearing her throat. It had been Eli Vanto who had been the one in charge of most of the evening social events in the senior officers’ cantina. After he disappeared three months ago, no one had had the spirit to continue to do so.
"I was told that the fun in Bingo doesn't really come from the thrill of victory," Thrawn said, breaking the silence, "But from seeing who gets to win the prizes; and the more dubious the quality and the worse the taste of the prize is, the more amusing it is. Am I right, Commodore?"
"Oh, you are, sir," she smiled.
"I still have that awful bright blue tooka plushie I got in the last Bingo we had on the Thunderwasp," Hammerly intervened and was immediately kicked under the table by Karyn. "We may have another bingo night any time now!" she rushed to say.
"I don't think I have ever been to Bingo," Thrawn was thoughtful. "I prefer more skill based activities, but if you think it would improve crew morale, Commodore, then please go ahead. I leave these matters to you."
"Thank you, sir," Faro managed to say, even though organizing Bingo sessions was not something she could see herself doing. There must be an Ensign she could pass that task on to. Or a certain Commander who was trying very hard not to catch her attention at the moment.
"Actually," Hammerly said, "the Commodore also prefers skill-based activities. Just before you arrived she was telling me - ouch!" Another kick from Karyn stopped her just in time. Perhaps she shouldn't tell Thrawn that his second in command was involved in mobile games.
"Is something wrong, Commander?" Thrawn asked.
"No, Sir. Just a... cramp." She gave Karyn a long hard look. "I meant to say the Commodore was just telling me that she loved reading the latest fleet exercise reviews."
"Yes," Faro agreed. "They were riveting."
"Really?" Thrawn said, raising his eyebrows. "I appreciate your dedication, Commodore. I studied them last night. Perhaps we could compare notes after our next shift. I would appreciate your insights into where you think we can improve."
Great, Faro thought. She had planned to revise her strategy for the next phase of the game after her shift. Now she would have to spend that time with Thrawn instead, which meant she would not have time to upgrade her defense. Hopefully nobody would take advantage of that and overrun her base. And of course she would have to read the fleet exercise review again because she had only skimmed it so far.
She glared at Hammerly who managed to look entirely innocent.
Once back at her quarters, after a shower - with real water, one of the privileges that came with carrying a rank above captain - she lay on the couch of her living room - another privilege: she had private quarters, with a living room, equipped with a kitchenette, an office and a bedroom - and pulled out her datapad. She was already feeling sleep claiming her, which meant she didn't have much time before she had to go to bed or she would be asleep on the spot.
She weighed whether she would be capable of taking her turn now and assaulting that highly attractive sector. If she did, she wouldn't have time to review the fleet exercise reports. Although perhaps she could go over them tomorrow during lunch, so she was ready to discuss them with Thrawn after her shift.
In truth, she had no desire to do it at all, and she wanted to reproach Hammerly for dragging her into it. But on the other hand, she felt that she had to go through with it, now that Thrawn was expecting her input..
Since Eli's mysterious disappearance, the Grand Admiral had been lonelier than ever. He and Vanto had been inseparable since the academy, as Hammerly had told her. Faro assumed that behind that facade of perfect correctness, there was a lonely officer.
She understood his situation perfectly. As a Commodore, she was one of the highest-ranking officers in the fleet, which made it difficult to socialize with others. In the navy, there was no such thing as "off-duty." On a ship, you were always working, although there were moments when the etiquette could relax, like during dinner between her and Ylla.
That left Thrawn with a fairly limited circle of people to have a conversation with outside of his fleet duties. She knew that Junior Captain Mells had a cordial relationship with Thrawn off hours, and there was also someone in the scientific division whom the Grand Admiral usually met with. But no one else. Eli had been a constant presence in his life, and now he was no longer there.
Her decision made, she sighed and opened the reports folder.