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Eli wanted to strangle the Breach Calculators on Corusant. Today was supposed to be a routine patrol but someone decided to send the Blood Crow the calculations late. Now the klaxons were blaring and a level three kaiju was ramming into the hull of their ship. Fighting kaiju was already stressful, fighting one that had the advantage of surprise was even worse.
The ship shook again with another hit to the hull. Eli swore under his breath as the technicians hurried around him and Thrawn, trying to get them in their Drivesuits faster. They had already gotten into the circuitry suit and now they had to affix the battle armor. It wasn’t a slow process but minutes wasted suiting up was time they really didn’t have at the moment. Eli glanced over at Thrawn, calm as ever. The Chiss’s gaze was distant, most likely already formulating their combat strategy. He felt somewhat calmer knowing that at least that was the only thing he could rely on out here. Thrawn’s ability to come up with decisive battle tactics never failed to amaze Eli.
Finally, the last piece of battle armor was connected and they were combat ready. The sleek Imperial grey Drivesuit allowed them to connect to their Jaeger and protect them within the Conn-Pod. The comms within their helmets made it possible for them to speak to each other and relay info to the bridge. Eli mentally prepared himself for the carnage ahead and followed Thrawn to the hangar. As they rushed to their Jaeger, officers and TIE pilots ran by. Screams and shouting were echoing through the hall as the vicious attack on the ship continued.
“That thing’s going to tear right through the ship!”
“Get her over to medbay!”
“We need air support now! Move!”
Suddenly, the ship lurched and everything shifted towards the left. Eli stumbled into Thrawn, who caught him and pulled him up. He was about to thank him when a loud screeching sound could be heard throughout the entire ship. The sound of metal tearing. Their comms crackled to life.
“Lieutenant Thrawn, Ensign Vanto. Status.” said Captain Virgilio.
“On our way to the Conn-pod, sir.” Eli replied.
“Better hurry up. The bastard’s torn through the hull and has latched onto the ship. We can’t—kriff what the—“
Virgilio’s message cut out as an explosion rocked the ship. Eli could smell the acrid scent of smoke and metal melting. Thrawn motioned for him to hurry as they ran faster to their Jaeger.
As soon as they got into the hangar, he spotted their Jaeger, a black mech with red wing decals painted on the back, prepped and ready to go. Eli thought it was a bit much but he didn’t get a say in the design. It was technically the Blood Crow’s Jaeger. If they got promoted, then potentially he could put in a few decal choices.
“The kaiju is——towards the——. I repeat the kaiju is moving———acid.” The message from their comms was spotty.
Suddenly giant claws raked through the metal of the hangar bay doors. Everyone was knocked down by the force of the blow. Eli’s eyes widened in shock and terror as he watched some officers be flung out into space or be crushed by the debris. The bright blue eye peeked in through the gaping hole in the ship and a low rumble could be heard. The ship rocked once more as the rumble grew louder and louder.
A wave of vibrant blue liquid then burst through the hole. Anything the liquid touched began to dissolve near instantly. The screaming started again as another explosion tilted the ship, and then another wave of acid came through. Eli was frozen in terror as the blue liquid was about to crash down upon him.
But then Eli let out a gasp as his body was yanked away from the wave and pulled into Thrawn’s. He felt Thrawn grip tightly onto his waist and then lurched as they rolled away from the acid melting into the ship’s floor.
“Eli? Are you okay? Eli?”
Eli had landed on top of Thrawn and his face was currently buried within the Chiss’s chest. They were both panting heavily. His heart was beating rapidly and from the sound of it, so was Thrawn’s. He felt shaky as adrenaline was coursing through him.
“Eli?” Thrawn repeated, lifting Eli’s face to meet his gaze with two fingers.
“I’m okay. I’m okay. Thank you.”
Thrawn nodded and then pulled both of them to their feet. The Chiss gave him a quick look over and then Eli let him drag them over the Conn-pod. As they quickly locked in and set the drop sequence, Eli spared a glance at Thrawn. His partner seemed alright but the expression in his eyes had Eli worried. There was a underlying rage in those brilliant red eyes that Eli had never seen before. It scared him less than it probably should have.
“Thrawn? I-I mean sir?”
Thrawn’s gaze flickered over to Eli, immediately softening and questioning. Eli’s lips parted as some unknown emotion filled his chest. The question he wanted to ask disappeared from his mind.
“You’ve got a plan, right?”
The Chiss smiled slightly. “Yes, Eli.”
****
“Deploy the plasma spheres.”
“Got it.”
“ The tail is going to whip around in 10 seconds. We’re going to—“
“Catch it. I’m ready.”
Eli felt a wave of pride from Thrawn as he read and understood the plan quickly. He smiled to himself and prepared for the attack. There was something about fighting with Thrawn that felt natural. He guessed most of it was due to the drift. Eli wouldn’t say he’s necessarily good at seeing where Thrawn’s plans went, but being in his head certainly helped.
Although it wasn’t like Eli was reading his thoughts. Honestly he doubted anyone could without a headache. Thrawn’s mind was constantly going, always aware of everything to such a intricate degree. He wondered if it was exhausting for him. In any case, Eli was good at sifting through large quantities of data and finding the patterns. He wasn’t getting every little thought in his partner’s head but he began to be able to follow Thrawn on the leaps of logic he made.
“ We can’t take another hit of that acid.”
“Use the back thrusters when it opens its mouth again.”
Eli huffed. This is gonna be a long fight.
****
It took two hours but they managed to kill the beast. Actually Thrawn kind of slaughtered it. He didn’t think they needed to completely eviscerate the thing after their final shot with the ion cannon, but he wasn’t complaining. No life threatening injuries although Eli was pretty sure he dislocated his right shoulder. He was not looking forward to the wait in medbay, so he knew Thrawn was going to have to set it for him. The Chiss, still in his head due to the ghost drift, was already next to him as they disconnected from the Jaeger.
“Kriff, just do it.” Eli said with a wince.
Thrawn nodded. “Three. Two. One.”
With a pop, Thrawn easily set Eli’s shoulder back into place. Eli let out a pained noise and braced himself against his partner.
“Hate that.”
“I know.”
They removed their Drivesuits carefully and switched into their uniforms. Eli sighed as the aftereffects of drift kicked him. He shivered as the cold chills started to set in and exhaustion took over. It was protocol to go get checked out in medbay, but Eli knew they would be sitting and waiting for a while. The higher ranked officers would be priority. He was practically swaying on his feet as Thrawn guided him through the wrecked halls.
When they got to medbay, Thrawn sat him down on a bed and walked off to go talk to one of the nurses. Eli tried to stay awake but kept nodding off, his head slumping down and shooting back up every time. Eventually he passed out on the bed. Hence, he didn’t remember Thrawn coming back and trying to get him to go back to their quarters. Or see him steal a medkit. Or protest when the Chiss picked him up bridal style and then carried him back to their room.
Eli’s eyes fluttered open halfway to their room. He felt warm, which was great considering how cold he was feeling before. He realized that Thrawn was carrying him but he was too tired to stand on his own.
“This is embarrassing, sir.” Eli grumbled softly.
“If you could keep your eyes open for more than five seconds, Ensign, then I would let you walk.”
“Why does it only effect me?” Eli whined.
“I believe it is due to your lack of experience versus my own. In time, you will become stronger.”
Eli could feel Thrawn’s amusement through their bond. He glared at the Chiss, who simply raised an eyebrow and smirked.
“You do this for all your drift partners or am I special.” teased Eli.
He watched Thrawn genuinely ponder the question as he punched in the code to their room. Thrawn let Eli down gently. Eli flopped onto his bed with a content sigh. He snorted in amusement as Thrawn pulled the medkit out of his tunic and sat back up as his partner pulled out bandages, bacta, and painkillers.
“It was not drift related but I did have to carry one of my drift partners back to safety once.”
Eli forced himself to wake up as Thrawn motioned for Eli to give him his arm. It was rare for him to talk about his life before the Empire. They don’t speak about what Eli sees in his dreams.
“Oh? Mission gone wrong?”
“It was not quite as important as that. He had the misfortune of getting his boot stuck in deep snow and then tumbled down a hill. Managed to sprain his ankle somehow. I had to carry him back to his house.”
Eli’s gaze was focused intently on Thrawn’s face as he detailed the story and bandaged Eli’s arm. Thrawn had a distant expression on his face, almost wistful. But the story was clearly a happy memory and Eli felt warm at being trusted enough to know this side of Thrawn. The calm content atmosphere was making him sleepy again and he could feel himself dozing off as Thrawn finished patching him up
“Lucky me then. Getting such a great and kind drift partner.” Eli rambled as he fell asleep, head falling onto Thrawn’s shoulder.
Unbeknownst to sleeping Eli, Thrawn flinched at the comment but gently laid Eli back in the bed and went to shut off the lights.
****
Eli woke up to a mound of blankets covering him and he was basically encircled in a blanket nest of sorts.
“Thrawn?”
“Yes, Eli?”
“Why do I have the entire ship’s blanket supply on me?”
“In the middle of the night, you complained about it being too cold. In the Ascendancy, Chiss create and sleep in nests when the temperature gets too cold even for us.”
Eli sighed. “Yeah, well now I’m too hot….and stuck.”