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It’s almost like a fairytale. The kind of stories his grandmother would tell him, about the Chiss, about the era of the Jedi, of the Sith. Eli never thought they would be important. Until he met Thrawn. Until now standing across of Ezra Bridger. Until now, as he stared into a gaping black and white circle outlined with loth-wolves and purgills. Standing with nothing but a bag slung around him and the person who got them into this mess in the first place.
The young Jedi had found him three days ago and oh did he have a story to tell. Eli had spent years trying to find Thrawn. Perhaps he was meant to take solace in the fact that he was unable to do so, because how could he have guessed Thrawn ended up in a whole other kriffing galaxy? Much less could he have guessed the Chiss was, according to Bridger, stuck in stasis between time and space.
3 days ago
A small craft dropped out of hyperspace and all the alerts went off on the Steadfast. To every other officer on the bridge, this was just another patrol, another ship to kick out of Ascendancy territory. To Eli Vanto and Admiral Ar’alani, that ship spelt trouble. For on the side of the craft, which was too small to have a hyperdrive engine, was a roughly painted copy of the Paccosh subclan symbol.
“Seems to be a lone pilot, Admiral.” called out an officer.
“Hail the ship.” Ar’alani said.
“It’s already hailing us, ma’am.”
“Put them through.”
A brief burst of static crackled and Eli involuntarily took in a nervous breath. He shouldn’t get his hopes up. It could be a trap. But the possibility of it being Thrawn made his heart beat faster.
“I am Admiral Ar’alani of the Chiss Ascendancy. You are in Ascendancy territory. Please announce yourself and state your business.” Ar’alani said, business as usual.
She repeated the message again in a few different trade languages after a beat of silence. When she spoke in Sy Bisti, finally the person on the ship replied.
“Oh thank the Force, it worked. Um hi, I’m Ezra Bridger. I’ve been sent here to find an Eli Vanto.”
Eli stiffened at the mention of his name and the name of Ezra Bridger. Was that not the Jedi who defeated Thrawn? If he is here, then could Thrawn be abroad that ship as well. Yet, Eli knew something was off. If Thrawn was about, he would have understood the first message. Also why wouldn’t Thrawn hail the Steadfast himself? What did the Jedi want him specifically?
Ar’alani’s gaze flickered over to Eli. He gave her a small shake of his head to tell her he wasn’t sure of what they were walking into.
“What do you want with him?” Ar’alani replied.
“It’s complicated. But important. Very important. Thrawn is in trouble.”
Eli stepped forward but held himself back from saying anything. Ar’alani frowned again and beckoned Eli closer.
“Your opinion, Ivant?”
Eli chuckled weakly. “I’m afraid I can’t give you an unbiased one, Admiral.”
“I would still welcome it.”
“I say we let him on board. If he is who he says he is, he knows something of what happened to Thrawn. Not to mention, there’s something strange. That ship should not have been able to go into hyperspace.”
Ar’alani nodded. “I agree. Something is not right.”
****
Eli stood beside Ar’alani in the docking bay, tense. It was bad news but any news at this point was good. At least Bridger had said in trouble instead of dead. Eli didn’t know what he would have done if Bridger had said dead.
The Jedi’s ship door lowered and out stepped a young man, in his late 20’s. He had long blueish hair and the semblance of a scruffy beard coming in. Ar’alani stepped forward to greet the man.
“Ezra Bridger, I presume.” she said in Sy Bisti.
“I am he,” Ezra’s gaze shifted over to Eli. “Wow I wasn’t sure you were a real guy to be honest.”
Eli’s eyes narrowed. “What’s that supposed to mean?” he said in Basic.
Ezra chuckled, running a hand through his hair. “I mean he talked about you a lot—like seriously non stop—but for a while I couldn’t believe he actually had a friend.”
Eli didn’t know if he should feel offended for himself or on Thrawn’s behalf. Ar’alani raised her hand to stop them both from saying anything more.
“Enough. You bring news of Thrawn’s whereabouts, no?”
Ezra’s demeanor shifted to a more serious one. He spoke in Sy Bisti. “Yeah. He’s in a lot of trouble and he needs your help.” the Jedi looked right Eli.
“What kind of trouble?” Eli asked, getting frustrated at the way they were dancing around the subject.
“Okay look, just bear with me here. We ended up in another galaxy—“
“Another galaxy?!” Eli yelped.
“Yeah, I know. Long story short, we ended up forming a temporary truce trying to get back home. What we didn’t know is that the planet we ended up on was home to Nightsisters, the Great Mothers,—they’re like witches, kinda force-adjacent or uhhhh Third Sight adjacent!” Ezra said snapping his fingers as he remembered the phrase Thrawn taught him.
Ar’alani motioned for the Jedi to continue.
“To get back home, we had to strike a deal with them. But they were crafty. They would only send one of us home. Honestly I thought Thrawn was going to leave me there, but Thrawn was even craftier than the witches. They loved to play games, make deals and what not. So, he said they could send me back because he was certain that you would find him anyway.”
Eli’s eyes widened slightly at the level of trust Thrawn had placed in him. He knew Thrawn had faith in his abilities, it was why he sent him to his people. But this was something else.
“The Great Mothers took to that challenge. Asked if he would bet his life on it. He said yes and made a new deal. They would send me back home, and you would come to find him, and when you did, they would let him and you go freely. The Great Mothers agreed with a catch.”
“And this catch was?” Ar’alani asked, frown deepening at every new bit of information.
“They thought it too easy for him just to show up and take Thrawn home. They said they would test the strength of the thread between you both and only if you passed, would you both walk free. Three tests of faith. Thrawn would be put into some kind of magical stasis and if you fail, he remains trapped within that stasis.” Ezra finished his tale with a grimace.
Eli stood there frozen in shock. Witches? The Force? Magical tests? How was he supposed to deal with any of that? Eli had always thought of himself as a logical minded person. Weird witchcraft and trials was not up his alley. But the idea of leaving Thrawn to that fate was unimaginable to him. The rage he already felt towards these “Great Mothers” for forcing the Chiss’s hand was boiling in his gut.
“I wasn’t even supposed to end up here, but kriff, Thrawn really has an idea for everything. As I’m sure you noticed this craft doesn’t have a hyperdrive. They sent me back using Nightsister magic. Thrawn had taught me about your people’s version of the Force and told me I could direct the ship where I needed it to go. Which was to you. Didn’t really think I could do it, but Thrawn’s resolute in his trust I guess.” Ezra said.
Eli let out a shaky sigh. There was only one answer. “I’ll do it. I’ll find him. But how am I supposed to get to another galaxy?”
Ezra looked sheepishly off to the side. “I have an idea but it’s kinda a long shot.”
“Kid, I’ll take anything at this point.”
****
Bridger’s long shot plan ended up being more Jedi weirdness. The Jedi had talked endlessly about some kind of portal space. A world between worlds. A stupid name if you asked Eli. But apparently during Thrawn’s mission on Lothal, he had brought one such entrance to this space aboard the Chimaera. Bridger thought if they could find another entrance, he could take Eli through and find the portal that’s on the ship. He had to admit it was a sound idea if it worked. He just didn’t know how much he trusted all the force nonsense.
Eli could understand the work of the sky-walkers. Navigation was something grounded. But portals leading to a space beyond time? Thrawn was lucky he had Eli’s heart in a vice grip.
It’s truly almost like a fairytale. The ones of nobles slaying krayt dragons and saving princesses from sith curses. He almost laughed at the insanity of that notion. A story of a nobody space yokel saving the lost hero of a warrior kingdom? How absurd.
Nevertheless, it was time for Eli to choose. Bridger had found another entrance. Something about communing with some wolves on his home planet and now they were here. He wasn’t force sensitive at all but even so, he could feel the power behind this place. The portal rippled with energy and he swore he could hear the faintest whispers of voices.
“Apparently it’s different for everyone who experiences it. I’m not too sure what it will be like for a non-force sensitive.” Bridger said.
“Will it even let me in?”
“Only one way to find out, I guess.”
Eli closed his eyes and thought of the last time he saw Thrawn. The last time they had a true conversation. The words neither of them said. The ones he felt from Thrawn in every lingering stare, warm praise, and brush of the fingers. He clutched Thrawn’s journal in his hand within his bag. Three tests. One chance. I’m going to find you and bring you home.
Eli put his hand on the portal. It rippled beneath his touch. He took a deep breath and stepped through.
To be continued.