Chapter Text
As Admiral Thrawn arrived on the bridge that day he was quick to notice something…
The bridge was somehow mostly empty.
His first in command , Karyn Faro , was standing beside the viewport , a datapad in her hand and seemed to be typing on it rather quickly. On her right stood his own aide , Eli Vanto , currently talking to Faro with hand gestures that were idly funny to watch due to the datapad in Vanto’s right hand making the signs overly exaggerated. As he looked down into the station posts he only spotted Lomar with Pyrondi , the two talking and seem to be adjusting their own consoles. Lomar’s hands were pressing buttons at a remarkable speed that showed the time passed on the ship. Pyrondi waited for him to finish , pressing some new buttons and restarted her post to what seemed to satisfy her.
And that was all.
He knew patrol sweeps were not the most interesting thing in the world but they always needed a backup if they found themselves engaging in battle and a warrior should always be prepared , he reminded himself to realise once again that humans were not Chiss. Still he had not heard about any sickness going on or shore leaves since they left Coruscant.
He decided he would investigate.
He stocked his datapad in his integrated slot in his command chair and crossed the bridge to join Vanto and Faro who were still engaging in their vivid conversation… that abruptly came to a stop when they spotted their commanding officer.
“Good evening Commodore” , he nodded first to Faro , then to Vanto. “Lieutenant.”
They both did the same as they saluted him with a “sir” before Vanto leaned down to take a cup that was resting near his boots.
Somehow Thrawn had not noticed the cup but inspected it quickly. Metal cup on durasteel bridge , not the best to spot.
“Caf for you sir” Vanto handed it to him as well as his datapad.
“Thank you lieutenant” he said with a small smile , taking the cup , and later the datapad , out of Vanto’s hand , their gloved fingers brushing. Thrawn did often notice that Vanto would tend to appear slightly warmer after all of their interactions. But now was not the time. He buried the thought in a corner of his mind and began reading his morning report from Vanto’s datapad.
Moments later he shuts down the electronic to handle it back to Vanto , bringing his cup to his lips , taking a sip of the caf before speaking: “We appear to have a failure.”
Faro nods , “Yes sir. And as you can notice that is why the bridge is less crowded than usual , Hammerly is already on it with Agral.”
“Yes , I was talking with the Commodore earlier about the issue and its specs until we saw you clock in.” , Eli added.
Thrawn swung his cup , draining the caf in one glup before coming back to the conversation. An issue with the ship… the sector was not that badly infected with pirates. He knew that would mean more hours on the bridge until the ship and its crew were safe and ready to.
“This is bad news considering the upcoming patrol. But I trust that the teams will be able to fix it.” , Thrawn said
“I did some research on this sector, sir, and I believe we should not be engaging in a fight due to the low pirate activity. The risk is , of course , never zero but it should not be a problem- I hope , for the patrol. And if you will permit me I will assist Hammerly and Agral at their tasks.” Faro replied as she pockets back her own datapad.
Thrawn extended a hand towards the door and nodded. “You may. If there is any further issue please comm me.”
“Yes sir, I shall. Good day,” she concludes already walking towards the door , her boots tapping the durasteel of the bridge with what Thrawn detected as excitement?
His sudden thinking got interrupted by Vanto speaking
“It might take longer. Do you think it is as safe as Faro said?”
He thought about it , should they patrol, should they not ? But in the end they had a schedule , he knew , and even if he did not understand politics he could understand a time limit. He just had to think about a new strategy of defence.
“We will do like any other day, for now.”
“And the pirates ? Will we be safe?”
“That is indeed an issue for myself. Since Commodore Faro is helping the others, I will strategise here to have a way out in case anything happens.”
“Wouldn’t the office be better?” He asks , his voice carrying a tone of uncertainty.
Thrawn decided to ignore it and blame the hour. He gave him a small smile, “As you said Lieutenant , we need to stand ready.”
Eli nodded , returning the smile.
“Yes sir,” he replied more enthusiastically.
Thrawn crossed the bridge and sat down into his chair , retrieving his datapad for his pocket and started working as Eli stood by him.
——-
Three hours later Thrawn would say that he was almost finished with his plans. He had imagined no less than 26 versions of potential defense , some including a jump , some based purely on the ship defense’s system. And some were… less standards— still representing his mark of fabric.
During that time his aide settled at Agral’s station working on his own set of data , newly brewed caf in hand.
The bridge may be empty but it was peaceful , Thrawn thought. After all these years he was proud of his officers , he was proud of his ship. The Chimaera was a marvel he loved to analyse when he could. Of course , as peacefully as it might seem , he still worked hard and without limit for his own people. Memory based tactics from his battle against Jixtus , predictions of the evolution of the Grysks’s fleet , the amount of simulation he had in his head preparing for an upcoming situation against evil was high. Perhaps too high that he would like to admit to himself. But it was what he had to do.
Before he could let himself be consumed by his darkening thoughts , a ping of alert caught his attention
0947-Admiral Thrawn’s office Log :
Officer used code cylinder to enter the office.
— Cylinder ID. Commodore Karyn Faro
He darted his eyes from the tablet and took his comm.
“Admiral Thrawn,” he called.
“Karyn Faro, listening,” she replied , her voice sounding amused through the comm static
“Are you currently in my office Commodore ?”
“I am sir , apologies, I should have sent a request over the overdrive code.”
“Apologies accepted.” He said, “How are the repairs going?”
“Well sir , we must be finished a bit after the second bridge rotation begins.”
“An acceptable time slot. Very well. Admiral Thrawn out,” he concluded , ending the call. He thought he had heard other faint voices through the static. Perhaps Faro was simply with Hammerly and Agral. He was about to comm again to ask her to send him data from his console but the next thing he saw was Eli bringing him a new cup of caf.
He gladly took it and sent him to fetch the data instead. Eli merely nodded and shot him a bright smile.
He did smile a lot today , Thrawn thought. Not that he was complaining.
——-
Another 4 hours and 16 art set later Thrawn’s shift was over. With no further update on the issue. Faro had told him that it could be fixed before the end of the shift but as it seems , it did not happen.
He stood up , leaving his chair when he saw the new bridge officer enter. Eli was doing the same and leaving Agral’s station to walk up to Thrawn.
The pair walked up to the now-current bridge officer to report him the ongoing issue when Thrawn’s comm buzzed in his pocket.
“Admiral Thrawn listening.”
“Admiral , Faro here. We fixed the issue. Our apologises for the delay you may leave the bridge. I will come momentarily to update the bridge officer myself, and to discuss what happened with the consoles and their systems.”
“I will send you a copy of my emergency plans too in case you want to inform him if anything of this type happens again.”
“Yes sir. Faro out.”
Thrawn pocketed his comm again and took a turn to exit the bridge , Vanto following closely behind him.
“Looks like we are going back to the office after all.”
“Indeed we are , lieutenant. I would like you to report on the data you sorted.”
“Oh wait! I forgot something at the station. Start without me,” he rushed to explain as he walked quickly back.
Thrawn nodded into the void and mentally at his aide and started towards his office. As he could observe nothing had changed in the corridors. The same grey durasteel followed him. It had some charm though , the palette of a warship was very rarely something other than grey or material-related. Although on a small planet he had discovered various coloured ships. He had seen red , pink and even turquoise. These designs carried traditional colours and symbols drawn on them wishing the warriors luck or other positive outcomes.
As he was contemplating the never changing look of his ship a subtle odor reached his nose. Food , yes , but not any kind of food. A food that brought him 40 years back in time and to some distant memories he thought he had forgotten. A food making him remember his family. His sister. His grandparents.
Memories of home and warmth.
It was Rentori food. He was sure of it. But why would he smell this kind of food here , in imperial space ? Maybe he had lost his mind after being so long on the bridge without bothering taking a break. But the caf had been useful enough and he did sleep more this week. His load of work perhaps ? Or…. something else was going on. Something that he was not aware of—
“Something caught your eye sir ?” Eli asked from behind him. Thrawn had not sensed him arriving that close to him. He quickly pushed away his interrogation , how could Rentori food be on the ISD anyway?
“Are we still going to the office sir?” Eli asked , after a moment of silence as Thrawn was putting himself back together , pointing at the datastore he took from the bridge.
“My apologies , we are indeed,” Thrawn replied and resumed walking. Now side by side with the brunette.
The walk was not long until they finally arrived in front of the door. Eli waited for Thrawn to open the door as he took a step back. His aide was smiling again.
Odd , or maybe Thrawn had underestimated Eli’s love of data. Either way he decided to simply intrude the cylinder in the lock to open the door.
When Thrawn realised the sight before him he would admit he had not expected that. He had imagined the usual darkness of his office waiting for him and Eli to work.
Not his bridge crew throwing a party.
“HAPPY TEN YEARS IN LESSER SPACE SIR !” They all chanted in unison as Faro blew a confetti cannon. The cannon had been rather explosive and left a huge trail of blue glitters and microplastic on the floor.
She stared at it , turned back to Thrawn to murmur apologetically “I will clean sir…”
“But for now… WE PARTY!” Hammerly said , trying to cheer her up.
They were now all looking at Thrawn not moving in the doorway.
“Thrawn… the door.” Eli murmured , taking Thrawn’s gloved hand in his to guide him inside.
Eli dropped the Chiss’s hand and went to join the other , taking a party hat to wear on his head.
“Happy ten years within the Empire, sir ! We wanted to celebrate with something a bit special,” he exclaimed with a big smile.
So that explained all of it. The empty bridge , the “issue” , Faro’s excited walk , Eli smiling at him all day , the food.
The food.
“How did you know about the food?” He asked , his voice appearing again.
“Oh that was Eli’s idea sir,” Faro said , turning to Vanto , he actually came up with the whole celebration since this also marks the day you two met right?” She added.
“Indeed,” Thrawn replied. “I will admit I am positively surprised by it all. I had not expected a whole celebration for a day , and I won't hide it , I had forgotten. I thank you all.” He continued , his lips moving to form a smile on his face.
Agral moved behind the desk to grab a blue and silver knife. He walked back to Thrawn , handing it to him.
“You should honour the cake sir! We all participated in it. Pryrondi , Eli and I went to find the ingredients back on Coruscant. Lomar made the base and adapted the recipe from Eli to what we had found and finally Hammerly and Faro made the icing.”
“We truly hope you will enjoy it,” Pyrondi added.
As he finally felt his legs coming back to him , Thrawn walked behind his desk to discover the team-made cake.
If he thought the party was a surprise the cake was even more. It seemed like a Rentori traditional cake. It was impossible, he knew. Coruscant did not give access to the type of ingredients this cake needed, but the fact that they still managed to make it look accurate enough with the looks and the smell was remarkable.
He had not noticed that he stared too long at it until Eli started speaking again, “With all due respect sir, we wouldn't mind an art analysis of the frosting…. but after the party. We can take a holo for you to analyse later, if you want.”
“I would appreciate taking a holo” he nodded , his eyes not leaving the cake and only blinking at the flash coming from Vanto’s datapad.
“All done , you can now enjoy it with your taste.”
The comment made the Chiss smile as his hand was now gripping the knife to finally cut the cake. He did his best to take the most accurate 1/7 of the cake as he could and before he could ask for plates Lomar gave him one. The plates , it turns out , were blue with painted red eyes on them.
“That was my idea sir,” Lomar said , Thrawn smiling back at him. “An excellent idea, senior lieutenant. It says a lot about you.”
The whole room laughed while Thrawn began to eat in silence. Suddenly , their hearts starting to beat faster from the stress of maybe having messed up the cake and poisoned a high ranking officer , they were all focused on the admiral’s face , looking for any sign of enjoyment.
Thrawn simply ate and nodded at the plate.
“Delicious.” He announced.
And as they had just won a culinary show , the whole crew went back to the celebration mood, armed with the cannon and taking turns to talk to Thrawn about the method they used for the cooking. And of course giving Thrawn the list of the shops they went to.
“I think it is time for gifts!” Agral announced , revealing from behind his back a rectangular gift. Lomar moved to his side.
“It was made by both of us.” Lomar said , they both extended the gift onto the desk.
Thrawn looked up to them and Eli could notice the faint surprise on Thrawn’s face. He was happy that the Chiss was finally enjoying some time for himself , especially today.
Blue digits went on the paper covering the box and tore it apart. Under it a painting appeared.
Thrawn removed it from among the paper and noticed a picture falling out. He put it back on the desk next to the canvas.
“That is… it looks very well made.” He said first. He then looked at it longer. “This is the bridge from two weeks ago , I can recognise the system one can see from the viewport.”
“Thank you sir,” Lomar said. “Agral took the photograph you placed next to it. I painted it on a bigger canvas that you could analyse.”
“I will analyse it and send you back an analysis if you desire so.”
“Sir we would be honoured,” Agral said. “We admire your skills and being the one you would analyse would mean a lot to both of us.”
Next to Thrawn , Eli noticed the small touch of purple kissing the chiss’s cheek. “Then I shall analyse it. Thank you both.” He smiled. And Eli realised that for now it was the only time he saw Thrawn smile that much.
Before he noticed it everyone else had lined up with gifts in their hands. He looked at Faro as she handed him a thin cylinder box. He opened it to find three red eye liners.
“I thought it would match your eyes. And technically it is an art to apply” she said , pointing at the pens.
“I actually used to wear it back with my people.” He said , Faro’s mouth opened slightly out of shock. “I thank you for them.”
“I am glad to hear that sir. Can’t wait to see you on the bridge with it,” she concluded and moved to the side.
The next ups were Pyrondi and Hammerly holding a more voluminous box.
“We hope you will like it sir!” They said , giving him the heavy- as Thrawn realised when he took into his hands -box.
He unclipped the locks and opened it.
“Is it…”
“A hand carved batuuan defense stick ? Absolutely sir!” Hammerly said.
He held the stick in his hand , tracing the engraved curves and patterns with his fingers. He could feel the artist’s thoughts from a simple touch , the decisions that lead to this peace and the techniques chosen. He will be sure busy analysing the new pieces he just received.
“I once encountered one of those sticks years ago. This is a rather funny coincidence. Thank you , with all those gifts I will be kept well busy.”
“Sounds like they want to keep you in the office, sir,” Faro said as the other laughed. And at everyone’s surprise , Thrawn seemed to have laughed too. Maybe “laughed” was too strong to qualify it but among their own laughs they had identified the noise coming from Thrawn himself. At least they now knew he was happy with the party and gifts.
Hammerly and Pyrondi went to join Faro and Lomar to their left and now stood Eli , his hands behind his back.
“My gift wasn't wrapped sir , it would be better if you closed your eyes for it.” He informed him.
Thrawn nodded , thinking what the gift might be. “Very well,” he replied and closed his eyes.
He heard something being put on his desk. From the sound it might seem like a book.
“Done,” Eli announced and Thrawn opened his eyes again to be met with a book about Chiss myths and legends.
“You used to ask about them. So I found them all archived here. It was mine when I was a kid but now it is yours Thrawn.”
Thrawn pushed the book closer to him and opened it.
This book is Eli N Vanto’s property
“How old were you?” He asked.
“Uh… it is old but I was probably eight.”
“Thank you.” he said. And this time Thrawn was not merely blushing but Eli could notice his eyes brighter than usual.
Before he knew what was going on he received confetti in his head and everyone was ready to party again.
Humans were maybe unpredictable but at this instance Thrawn could enjoy the sweetness of the moment , his mind calming down the usual chaos and work focused anxieties.
Ten years flew by but he would gladly share ten new ones with his crew.
And in the back of his mind , with his friends back among the chaos.