#victory at batonn

[sudden-stops-kill]

grand admiral thrawn

[elivanto]

First off, happy birthday! Secondly, I started reading the Canon Thrawn novels last year, but only got about a fifth of the way through the first book before I got too busy to read. Finally picked it up again a couple weeks ago after seeing how much you talk about it and have been loving it. Zahn still gets Thrawn better than anyone else. I did have one question about the book I was curious if you knew an answer to though. How old are Thrawn and Vance supposed to be in the first book, and how long before Rebels S3 does it take place? Only bit of definitive mention of time I've come across so far is Eli mentioning he's been working with Thawn for 4 years so far. Thanks!

hi! thank you! and i am so glad you asked. please picture me rubbing my little hands together like a very round, gleeful raccoon.

let me link you to two amazing posts by @mayhaps-a-blog, one about thrawn's age and one about the thrawn novel timeline. and here have another post i found through google about eli's age.

tldr; it's a little complicated, since the novel takes place over, like, ten years? at the beginning of the novel eli should be no older than 22 (he's probably a bit younger, though) and thrawn should be no younger than 39....... if i did my math correctly. add ~10 years to that and you've got their ages at the end of the novel.

edit: another great post by @/mayhaps-a-blog about eli’s age here!

regarding rebels s3, the last few chapters take place shortly before thrawn is introduced in rebels. he mentions his "victory at batonn" in 3.01 when konstantine asks him about his promotion, right? zahn writes about what actually happened at batonn, and the scene in which palps promotes thrawn to grand admiral is in the last chapter of the novel, so it's basically a "smooth transition" between book and tv show.

i hope that clears things up a bit! 💙

[floralegia]

I’m probably never going to write this out properly because it would be l o n g, but I rediscovered it in the depths of my google drive the other night and felt it deserved to be put out into the world, so in not-quite-fic form: let’s talk about Kalluzeb and soulmarks/soulwords/first-thing-your-soulmate-says-to-you AU.

Zeb is one of very very few Lasat with soulwords, as it’s just not something that happens to their species, so only Lasat whose soulmates are from different species end up with words; he first notices when he’s a teen, since they’re under fur and hidden on his shoulder blade (and don’t typically appear until puberty anyway). He doesn’t know much Basic yet, but his dad translates them for him: “You! Lasat! Face me!” implies that he’ll leave Lasan for sure, but he doesn’t worry about it; the Honor Guard is what’s in his immediate future, what he’s striving toward, and that is more important. Besides, challenging people to fights is a regular part of Lasat courtship, so the idea that he’ll meet his soulmate that way doesn’t bother him either.

“Only the Honor Guard of Lasan may carry a bo-rifle” doesn’t make a lot of sense at first, but Alexsandr isn’t exactly the kind of child who’s afraid of research. The thing is, once he (quickly) discovers that Lasan is — well — populated by Lasats, not humans, and Lasats are pretty drastically different in a lot of ways, he sort of panics and resolves to hide his soulwords. Luckily that’s not that uncommon on Coruscant, or really most quote-unquote ‘civilized’ (read: Core) worlds, where it’s considered impolite to see the soulwords of anyone but your soulmate. He tries to rationalize that maybe his soulmate isn’t Lasat at all — maybe they’re just a perfectly nice human (a woman, ideally, to please his parents) who’s teaching him about the Lasat. But that just doesn’t feel right; something in his gut tells him that’s wrong. When Onderon happens on top of that, and both the low-grade fear he’s had his entire life about someone discovering his soulwords and the intense, visceral trauma of watching his squad be murdered in cold blood in front of him are laid, at least in his mind, at the feet of the Lasat as a race, something in him breaks.

Therefore, when Alexsandr meets his soulmate in combat, he tells himself it doesn’t make a difference, not least because the man is a terrorist and a brute. But that doesn’t stop him from becoming quietly obsessed, keeping a private and intensely detailed file on Garazeb Orrelios, trying to discover as much as he can.

After that first fight with Kallus, Zeb is just… off. For weeks. And no one on the Ghost can figure out why. Kanan can tell that he’s in pain; Ezra is convinced he has some sort of misplaced guilt about almost dying, and teases him about it too hard as a result. Eventually, someone (Hera?) notices that he seems especially uncomfortable around Hera & Kanan, who aren’t exactly secretive (at least amongst the crew) about the fact that they’re soulmates, even though their relationship is actually kind of complicated. It’s deduced that whatever Zeb’s upset about, it must be soulmate-related, so it’s probably best not to pry, and even Ezra agrees not to ask, and to let up on him a bit.

The name of the game seems to be ignoring it; if you ask Zeb, Kallus only seems more pissed off whenever he’s around, and he can’t say the same isn’t true for him. The idea that his soulmate is responsible for the genocide of his entire planet is absolutely horrifying, and he only wishes that ignoring it would make it go away.

And then Bahryn happens.

They don’t talk about it until just as the Ghost is arriving, and Zeb is about to leave. “Wait — you —” Kallus can’t seem to get a full sentence out, but Zeb understands. “Yes.” That’s it. And then he leaves, with just one last unreadable look over his shoulder.

Well kriff, Kallus isn’t going to just take that lying down. So he goes back to the Empire, and in addition to his little off-the-record file on Zeb, he starts to pull things and make his own private file on Geonosis. On other Imperial ‘victories,’ too — Batonn, the Dhen-Moh genocides, the escalating conflict on Ghorman. Onderon: he learns what created the Partisans, where Saw Guerrera came from, and he doesn’t forgive them, but he grows to understand. Lasan: he comes to grips as best he can with exactly what he did, and what role he played, whether or not he’d understood at the time.

He tells Sabine, “Tell Garazeb Orrelios… we’re even,” and trusts Zeb to understand that that’s the exact opposite of what he means. 

He stretches out his intelligence network, shady contacts and informants acquired through years and years of ISB service, and slowly, carefully, without giving any of them enough information to connect the dots, he becomes Fulcrum. He knows it’s not enough; soulmate or not, he knows he doesn’t deserve Zeb’s forgiveness. Nothing can change that. But he also knows that that’s no excuse to keep on ‘just following orders'. Not now that he knows better.

And Zeb — not only does he understand the subtext in what Sabine passes along to him, but when Ezra and Kanan return wide-eyed with stories of Kallus in an elevator and the light of Lothal’s moons, for the first time in years, he feels hope for his own, personal future.

Kallus’ warning to the Rebels gets there only in part. Zeb’s no idiot: he knows that’s not a good sign. So he goes into the Battle of Atollon already thinking his soulmate is probably dead, or at the very least at Thrawn’s mercy somewhere — and death might actually be preferable to that. So then, when he sees the escape pod, and Kallus bloody and bruised but alive: his blood is singing, and even with everything that they’ve lost, he wants to cry for joy.

When Kallus enters the cockpit of the Ghost, Zeb doesn’t even think before going to him, checking him quickly and fiercely for injuries and then drawing him in close, keeping a protective grip on him as they make the jump to hyperspace.

He has responsibilities; he goes and talks to the Mandos with Hera, because he has to, and leaves Kallus alone, because he has to. Kallus, now uncomfortably aware that everyone on the damn ship probably knows he’s Zeb’s soulmate (assuming they didn’t already), hides awkwardly in the hallway and only speaks to Kanan when he sees him because he knows he won’t ever be able to express his gratitude fully for the fact that the ridiculous, righteous, bleeding hearts of the Rebellion are giving him a second chance.

They’re constantly dragged apart by their duties — Zeb to the crew and the ship, and Kallus trapped debriefing Dodonna and Hera for most of the remaining trip, once he’s had some first aid — until they reach Yavin, and really until everyone else is gone and the Ghost is empty and it’s just the two of them.

“I didn’t do it for you,” Kallus blurts out, and then immediately wants to kick himself directly in the face, because what the kriff, that came out awful, that’s not what he meant at all. But Zeb understands.

“If you had, I wouldn’t — I wouldn’t feel the way I feel about you.” If you had, you wouldn’t be my soulmate.

And Then They Kiss, Obviously.

[minniethemoocherda]

Family: Lost

Ezra scratched the neck of his ‘borrowed’ imperial uniform. He couldn’t understand how anyone could deal with wearing the itchy thing every day. He’d managed to infiltrate Thrawn’s office with help from Agent Kallus of all people. Ezra still didn’t entirely trust him but Zeb had vouched for the guy so he played nice for now.

“You were right. Thrawn is close to finding our base.” Ezra said, trying to keep the worry out of his voice as Chopper displayed the Admiral’s holomap.

“Droid erase that planet and add another as a decoy.” Kallus told the astromech.

The red flickering light of Atollon disappeared as another imaginary planet took its place. Ezra doubted this would keep Thrawn from discovering the location of their base forever but at least it would buy them some more time.

He was about to tell Chopper to close the map down when he got distracted by something sitting on the Admiral’s desk. At first he’d mistakenly assumed it was another piece of art. But on closer inspection he realised that it a photo.

In the picture was a younger Thrawn who stood pressed against the side of a handsome man with light brown skin and hair whose arm was wrapped around the Admiral’s waist. That was a strange sight in of itself but the image of Thrawn carrying a smiling young boy with large brown eyes on his hip was even stranger.

By the way none of their eyes were facing the camera and the blurred outlines of their bodies it was clear that at the time they hadn’t been aware that the photo had been taken. But that only made it more perfect.

However what surprised Ezra the most was that Thrawn was smiling down at the pair with open love and happy surprise. Neither of which were emotions Ezra thought he thought Thrawn was capable of having.

“Who are they?” He asked Kallus, pointing at the picture.

Once Kallus’ eyes found the pictures flash of something like regret flashed across the agent’s eyes. “Thrawn’s husband Lieutenant Commander Eli Vanto and their son.”

“Thrawn has a family?” Ezra said in disbelief. The idea sounded so surreal.

“Had a family.” Kallus corrected.

Ezra turned to face him in shock.

“What happened to them?” He found himself asking.

Kallus straightened up and wiped his face of any emotion, making him look more like the Imperial he still technically was.

"A few days after Thrawn’s victory at the battle of Batonn they were involved in a shuttle crash. Vanto and the boy had been headed to a nearby planet when the engines overheated causing an explosion. It tore through the entire ship in seconds, scorching everything. They couldn't even find any remains of the bodies.”

Ezra grimaced at the image. He couldn’t imagine a worse way to go.

“With imperial safety regulations it should have been impossible for the ship to explode like that so ISB suspected foul play.” Kallus continued. “It isn’t like Thrawn has a shortage of enemies. But we never found anything. Thrawn called off the investigation soon after which was out of character for him but one rarely acts rationally in times of grief. Even Grand Admiral Thrawn."

Ezra hung his head. He’d never thought he'd feel anything akin to sympathy towards the Grand Admiral but after hearing that story he couldn’t help the pang of pity. Like everyone in the galaxy he was well aware of humans’ prejudices towards aliens but to think that someone would kill a family, a child out of unjust hatred was hard to comprehend.

“Did you know them?” He asked Kallus, suddenly desperate to learn more about Thrawn’ husband and son so that he could keep their memory alive.

That same look flashed across Kallus’ face but he hid it so fast that Ezra thought he may have imagined it.

“I ... met their son.” He replied simply.

Ezra opened his mouth to ask more when he was interrupted by AP-5.

“Unfortunate news. Grand Admiral Thrawn is headed for his office.”

“What?” Ezra cried in panic. “Try to stall him.”

“Oh wait I can’t. He’s at the door.”

Cursing the inventory droid Ezra hid behind one of Thrawn’s many pieces of art while Kallus headed off to do whatever he was doing.

In the ensuing chaos of trying to escape, he forgot all about Thrawn having once had a family until he’d returned to base.

When he did he immediately headed for Bendu’s caves. Along the way he picked two brown flowers. One the shade of Vanto’s hair the other the shade his son’s large round eyes. Once he arrived he walked through the depths of the caves until he reached a familiar dead end where ancient primitive paintings had been carved into it.

Kneeling down, he placed the flowers in his hands before he spoke.

“I’m not going to pretend like I understand why you loved Thrawn. After everything he’s done to me and to innocent people all over the galaxy the idea of that monster being loved by anyone is crazy.” Realising the growing feeling of darkness inside him Ezra calmed his body whilst being careful not to crush the flowers in his palms.

“But somehow you did. And he loved you back. And even though he deserves to be punished for everything he’s done, you two shouldn’t have been caught in the cross fire. For some weird reason I kind of wish I could have met you. You could tell me all the embarrassing things Thrawn does so we could broadcast it all over the holonet.” He let out a sad chuckle. “And I could have met two genuinely nice people. So I hope that wherever you are in the force that you’re happy and I’m sorry that we are going to have to destroy someone that you both loved.”

Gently he buried the flowers into the dirt and using the very tip of his lightsabre he carved the Lothalian word for family into the wall beside them.

[allthefights]

star wars aesthetic » grand admiral thrawn → When Governor Pryce of Lothal wanted a stronger commander to dismantle the rebellion, the Empire answered with Grand Admiral Thrawn. Thrawn was a male Chiss, with striking blue skin, red eyes, and an angular face, known for his brilliant strategic mind and ruthlessness. He was determined to “pull the rebels apart piece by piece.” Thrawn hailed from the Unknown Regions and had knowledge of the uncharted region of the galaxy, knowledge that Emperor Sheev Palpatine used due to his interest in discovering the secrets of the dark side of the Force that the Unknown Regions held. By 2 BBY, Thrawn had been promoted to Grand Admiral and given the command of the Seventh Fleet due to his victory over a rebel insurgency at Batonn. He was then assigned to destroy the Phoenix Squadron located in the Lothal sector, which was a part of the growing rebellion against the Empire. His efforts were aimed at discovering the location of the rebel base which proved successful and allowed his forces to press an attack. The battle was a success and Phoenix Squadron was mostly destroyed; however, the Spectres, most of the important rebel leaders, escaped along with the Imperial traitor Kallus. Moreover, the Empire suffered major losses and Thrawn received a prediction of his defeat from a mysterious Force-sensitive individual known as the Bendu. – “The rebels have won this battle, but the war will be ours.”

[jedifest]

Daily Stocking - Dec 24

Every day while the December Drabbles Exchange is going on, we’ll feature five prompts taken from the requests that the participants submitted. Think of it as an optional treat round with no requirements. All requests can be viewed here.

Two rules! 1) Please respect any DNW’s listed and 2) keep it PG-13.

Todays prompts:

Obi Wan/Cody - “Loyalty” DNWs: Mace x Obi Wan , anything containing a pairing with Kylo Ren , Yoda and Palpatine, like as side characters are okay , but dont put them in sexy positions I beg you. Anidala is good as side pairing but I dont want it as a main.

Qui-Gon/Dooku - Any word from this list! DNWs: Not a fan of anyone with Obi-Wan except for Qui-Gon, otherwise I’m completely open.

Finn/Poe/Rey - “Snowfall” DNWs: non-con, A/B/O, mpreg, pregnancy, love spells/potions, soulmates or anything with predetermination, AUs that don't take place in the Star Wars universe

Thrawn/Pryce - "martial arts" (Thrawn novel-era, pre-Batonn)   No DNWs apply

Mara Jade - “ Victories”  DNWs: Ahsoka/any male character, Mpreg, a/b/o, cross generational incest or massive age gaps

We’ll track the tags #decemberdrabbleprompt and #jedifest and will reblog posts in these tags during the exchange.

Happy Creating! ~The Jedifest Team

[skybird13]

Thrawn And His Emotions

[Warning: Spoilers for the Thrawn novel ahead. Also, this is really long. I had more thinks in my head than I initially thought.]

What if Thrawn never had any intention whatsoever of sending Eli to the Ascendancy? Or, at the very least, sincerely hoped it would not come to that.

Wait. Hear me out.

Thrawn is obsessed throughout most of the novel with chasing Nightswan down. Everyone around him believes it’s because Nightswan was the only one to ever outsmart Thrawn, and therefore Thrawn wants to “get him back” and finally win, or something along those lines. Even Eli listens to Yularen’s concerns on the subject.

But this is obviously disproved when he finally does catch up to Nightswan and basically offers the guy a job. And anyway, that sort of behavior is completely out of character for him. At no point in the novel does Thrawn display the characteristics of someone too narcissistic or too proud to accept defeat. He learns from failure. He doesn’t let personal stuff get in his way. He doesn’t even involve his personal feelings in his decisions. Right?

Except in this case... he does. Only, it’s not his feelings of resentment towards Nightswan (which I argue he does not have) driving his actions.

What if the reason he wanted to catch Nightswan so badly was so that he would be able to send someone who was not Eli Vanto to the Ascendancy? Because he wanted to keep Eli with him. 

Think about it.

If he wanted to send Eli to the Ascendancy from the beginning, why wouldn’t he have told him the full truth (whatever the hell that actually is) much earlier on in the novel? What was he waiting for? He was clearly guiding Eli to become a great tactician and leader, so if his intentions were always to groom him for the Ascendancy, why not come out with that? There are multiple times throughout the novel where Eli displays a distaste for certain things the Empire does (the politics, the xenophobia, the use of slaves). He even helps Thrawn look into the doonium thing, even though he likely knows that getting caught will mean big trouble for them both (especially when they’re still relatively low on the chain of command). If Thrawn gave him the right reasons, I don’t see any reason for him to not try much earlier to turn Eli to his side of things by being totally forthcoming. It would also have avoided what must have been a rushed and awkward conversation before Eli leaves at the end.

This also lends some credence to the theory that Thrawn was, in fact, lying to Nightswan (I’m still on the fence about the matter). Because he’s a very logical being, he probably gambled on the idea that any lie he told Nightswan to get him to the Ascendancy would be overshadowed once Nightswan learned what they were up against. He might still be pissed at Thrawn for lying to him, but because of the type of person he is (as Thrawn says, he values life), he wouldn’t just leave the Ascendancy to deal with the threat on their own. As long as he got Nightswan to the Ascendancy, that was all that mattered to Thrawn. So he was going to say whatever he needed to say to get him there.

And then there’s this. In one of my absolute favorite scenes in the entire book, while Thrawn and Eli are alone in a ship above Batonn (pg. 332 in my copy), we have this:

“Vanto’s insight and perception had grown remarkably over the years. He saw many of the patterns now, quickly grasping the underlying reasons and motivations.

The deeper reasons still sometimes eluded him. But there was time.”

There was time. 

Remember, this is when they are at Batonn the first time. This is not long before Thrawn returns to Batonn to deal with the situation himself, and subsequently sends Eli away. Thrawn thought, or at least hoped, that he and Eli would have more time together. He did not foresee having to (or at least was hoping he would not have to) send him away so soon, if at all. 

Let me say that again.

He thought they’d have more time.

This is backed up as the passage continues.

“The young commander’s tactical abilities continued to grow, though Vanto himself was not fully aware of his progress. The focus now would be on improving his observation and training his mind to assemble data and reach conclusions more quickly. In battle, such reflexive decisions often meant the difference between victory and defeat.”

Not only does this reveal that Thrawn has clear plans for furthering Eli’s development himself, but he demonstrates right here that he cares about Eli on a personal level. Because he plans on keeping him with him, because he doesn’t want to foist him out into a war on his own until he is absolutely certain that he has given him every tool possible to ensure his success and survival.   

This last point, that he cares about Eli on a personal level, is made even more concrete when we look at Thrawn’s last journal entry, and the distinctions he makes between allies and friends. Allies, he wants to keep close to assess their strengths. But friends, he realizes, he has to let go of so they can “find and follow” their own path. 

Now, it’s not entirely clear when Eli makes this jump from Thrawn’s potential ally to his friend, but you can sure as hell bet it wasn’t a new thing that just popped into existence during the issues with Batonn. Thrawn’s very nature dictates that his friendship with Eli was cultivated over several years, and perhaps was mostly developed long before he was even aware of it. 

Now, consider that journal entry further. If you’re an INTJ (as Thrawn is widely agreed to be) or know someone who is, you might know that writing things down is one of the only ways many of us can sort through our emotions. It’s all a bunch of scrambled nonsense tumbling around in our heads otherwise. We <b>must</b> have logical reasons for feeling what we feel and doing what we do. This applies especially to coping with things. It’s very difficult for an INTJ to cope with something painful unless we can logically justify why we need to be coping in the first place. We don’t just feel things. We analyze the hell out of them. Finding a logical reason for letting Eli go would have helped Thrawn with this.

Making the safe assumption that Thrawn wrote that final entry shortly before he gave the journal to Eli (which was, in itself, his final attempt to give Eli everything he needs to be okay without him), we can draw three conclusions from this.

1) that he likely wrote that journal entry in order to cope with sending Eli away.

2) that he was holding on to Eli, not solely for any tactical or strategic purposes, but for very personal, very emotional reasons, until Nightswan’s refusal and subsequent death forced him to consider the only option he spent years trying to avoid: sending Eli to the Ascendancy. 

And 3), that for most of the novel, Thrawn actually lets his personal feelings for Eli dictate his actions.

[okadiah]

Prompt 9: Flaw

Thrawn-centric drabbles written for the Star Wars Fictober Challenge.

Character: Thrawn, Konstantine (mentioned), Arihnda Pryce (mentioned), Palpatine (mentioned)

Rating: G

Word Count: 608

Alright friends, there are some spoilers for the ending of the Thrawn Novel. Just wanted to let you know if you haven’t read the book yet.

Flaws were unavoidable. Every plan, no matter how well constructed, contained them.

Usually, many of the flaws which developed in Thrawn’s plans stemmed from the actions of those whom he could not completely control. The possibility an individual might deviate from the plan was a risk in any given operation, and it was a reason Thrawn took care to instill loyalty and respect in his crew. Allow his prestige and efficacy and rank to speak for themselves. And for the most part, these actions went a great deal toward ensuring success, and accounting for any flaws which might arise.

But there would always be those who chafed at the bit. Admiral Konstantine, for instance.

Thrawn had known Konstantine’s sins from the moment he’d first met the man. Arrogance. Pride. Envy. Shame. Though he’d naturally done his research, being in a room with Konstantine had only affirmed his suspicions concerning what drove this human and his ambitions. Failure capturing and eliminating the rebel threat in the Lothal sector had shaken him. Success and redemption stood at the center of his desires. They were the leverage by which the man could be controlled.

Atollon showed Thrawn how much he’d underestimated Konstantine’s desires and willingness to be patient. His greed for success had been his undoing, and had led to the … inconvenience of that single rebel ship escaping the blockade.

There was always a measure of error in war and, disappointing and needless as Konstantine’s foolish mistake had been, Thrawn had compensated and reacted accordingly.

Of course, he could not account for what he did not know. And the … Force-being, whatever it was, had been an unforeseeable adversary and flaw. One he overcame, even if he now quietly endured the tormenting riddle of the creature’s final words. Flaws existed everywhere. In his plans. In his decisions. In the actions of his subordinates and superiors.

But there was a type of flaw which troubled him more than the others, and these were the flaws he did not speak about. Flaws which often occurred because of individuals other than himself, and which were connected to him in some pivotal way. These flaws, in fact, were not his own, though their attribution kept finding their way to him with growing frequency.

These were the flaws of truth.

Thrawn was not a fool, nor was he deaf, dumb, or blind. He’d earned many of his accolades. A great deal of his work was his to own, and he owned them despite any repercussions which resulted from them. But the accolades which were bestowed upon him following the Batonn conflict were not rightfully his.

And he could not reveal this flaw of truth.

It was not because he agreed with Governor Pryce’s assessment that he required a political connection who could aid him during the times when his actions ‘rocked the boat’, as Eli would have described it. True, he was not pleased she’d escaped justice for her deplorable crimes, but there were greater reasons than Pryce to keep him silent.

Emperor Palpatine believed the lie, and the lie had pulled Thrawn higher still though he had not deserved it. But with knowledge of the secrets of the Empire – the Death Star and other concerning matters – and the threat they might pose his people, Thrawn could not allow his ego or pride to compromise his true mission. He could not afford to lose his position or standing with the Emperor.

So, he allowed the galaxy to believe what it wanted to believe about him. The truths. The lies. His victories and defeats.

But Thrawn always knew the flaws. And he never forgot the truths.

[eirianerisdar]

What of Friends, Indeed

Summary: Novel-Thrawn and Rebels-Thrawn are very different. There is no question that in Rebels, Thrawn favours a crueller, harsher command. Eli Vanto returns from the Ascendancy a year after departing, to find a very changed Thrawn. Eli has questions. He may not like the answers. Oneshot, gen. Thrawn novel and SWR both referenced.

I’ve cross-posted this to FFN as well.

There was always something about Lambda-class shuttles that didn’t quite sit well with Eli Vanto.

Perhaps it is the fact that while most Lambdas are used to ferry troops or personnel, they also conveniently double as prisoner transports; every Imperial officer is well-used to seeing even the most toughened of Space-pirates tremble when the distinctive triangular silhouette of a Lambda shuttle settles down before them.

The harnesses can be locked down, certainly, transforming into prisoner bindings rather than simple crash webbing. And there are no viewports – not like the soaring, panoramic views of a star-destroyer bridge.

But the disquiet that flickers through Eli’s thoughts are not only of this shuttle – perhaps the environment is simply a reflection of the greater battle within his mind.

The Lambda shudders slightly as it drops out of hyperspace.

Eli cannot look through the solid durasteel walls, but he knows that far above the shuttle is the insignia of a many-limbed Chimaera, about to swallow the shuttle whole.

It is strange. Not so long ago, he would have considered it an embrace for a returning warrior.

But he has read the reports given to him – Thrawn is anything but lacking in keeping him updated about the goings-on of the Imperial Navy – and what he has read has…disturbed him.

This Grand Admiral, who brings whole peoples under his control – Ryloth, places further afield; kills factory workmen to make an example – setting a workman on a faulty bike the man has built himself, then edging up the speedometer until the bike explodes, and the man with it; allows an innocent Navy officer to be imprisoned, brutally questioned, and almost executed in order to continue to deceive a Rebel spy – is this Grand Admiral truly the Thrawn Eli knows so well? 

Eli cannot reconcile the Thrawn he knows – with his faint smile, his care for his subordinates, and his horror at the massacre of Batonn – with the Thrawn that he reads about, now.

This emotionless, ruthless Chiss warrior, like the blue-blooded, ice-veined monsters of the Wild Space legends; cunning warriors without compassion.

But this is Thrawn. Surely this cannot be all there is to the story; he must have a plan. He always has. 

Eli closes his eyes. In the duffel by his feet, there is a journal, kept dry and clean in a waterproof cover.

Thrawn is not…Thrawn, without compassion. Had he not written in reference to Batonn that sometimes victory is too much for a warrior to bear? And Botajef – had Thrawn not gone to whatever lengths he could to avoid war, and succeeded?

Had Eli not been there with him, one step behind his shoulder on the Bridge of the Chimaera, from the moment she had been given to them?

The Chimaera.

The roar of the repulsors quiet into a gentle hum as the Lambda settles onto the hangar floor.

And Eli is home. 

The ramp descends with an efficient whirr – the smallest of details are stringently monitored on the Chimaera, as they always have been – and then Eli is faced with the familiar view of one of the star-destroyer’s smaller hangars, situated precisely halfway between the bridge and the officers’ quarters, and so most favoured by Thrawn whenever he had reason to leave or return.

Disappointment rises minutely inside his chest when the small welcoming party comes into view, stood sharply a few paces from the end of the ramp – Faro and a few other officers. Not a trace of blue-skinned Chiss in sight.

Eli pushes down on the disappointment, masters it with a grudging twist.

He cannot expect Thrawn to come and greet him himself. It is not traditional, and even less procedural.

But Thrawn had never been one to adhere to those two things.

The doubt that flickers at the edge of his consciousness rackets up another notch.

All the welcoming party are clad in familiar Imperial grey, like the uniform he wears now – new, freshly-pressed, with even a new rank-plaque, Commander’s squares gleaming. Eli can’t quite decide whether he likes it. It makes him look fresh. Shiny, like the old Clone-Wars-era speak.

He nudges away this train of thought, as well. Eli is not a Coruscant-born commissioned officer; he has risen to where he is by loyalty and hard work, and nothing else. 

“Welcome back, Commander Vanto,” Faro says, with a genuine smile.

“Thank you, ma’am,” Eli replies, glancing at her rank plaque. “I see it’s Commodore Faro now. Congratulations.”

“Thank you.” Faro turns, and begins to walk. The sharp clacking of uniform boots against durasteel echoes through the hangar – something so familiar and constant, but somehow strange after a year afield. Eli follows with acute awareness of how his own boot-steps mirror the echo.

“The Grand Admiral has asked to see you in his office immediately, unless you had imperative matters to take care of upon your arrival,” Faro says, as they turn into a corridor.

“I don’t,” Eli confirms.

“Good. I’ll take you to him now.”

It is strange, being let through the corridors of the Chimaera like this; there are no shackles on his hands, and no danger in the easy, professional pace of any of his escort. 

But this is the Chimaera, Thrawn’s flagship.

The closest thing Eli has to a home.

His parents’ home, far away on the edges of Wild Space, is certainly nothing but a faded, pre-academy memory, now.

And then suddenly there is the door to Thrawn’s office and training room, with a stormtrooper standing at attention before it, as always; Eli hands over his code cylinder, and a nod of thanks to Commodore Faro later, he is on the other side of the door.

Alone. 

His duffel feels incredibly heavy in his hand as he walks the short distance down the corridor to the office door proper.

It opens with a smooth hiss, like an unknown reptile tasting the air. 

And there, standing with his back towards Eli, framed on either side by an etched mural of two leaping ysalamiri – a white-uniformed Chiss, with his shoulders held back, regal. Surprisingly, a long cape flows down from the gold epaulets, covering the long-fingered blue hands no doubt clasped behind his back.

Eli finds himself smiling, despite his doubts. “White suits you, sir,” he says, by way of breaking the silence.

Thrawn turns in place, and for a moment there, Eli sees that same familiar faint smile – the smallest uptick of the edge of his lips, where others would only see the harsh note of authority – but then it is smoothed away, and there is only the cool expression of command.

“Commander Vanto,” Thrawn says, voice as smooth and unassuming as ever. “Welcome back.”

“Thank you.” Eli raises an eyebrow. “I didn’t take you for the kind to wear a cape.”

Thrawn waves him into a chair, even as he himself remains standing. “I must greet a group of visiting dignitaries in less than an hour,” he says. “Their culture indicates that all upper-ranked officers must wear cloaks such as these to indicate their rank. As my uniform could be modified with an appropriate addition, I thought it would make a favourable impression.”

The Thrawn Eli remembers would have been smiling as he said this, faint, longsuffering amusement rising to the surface in the privacy of this office.

The Thrawn he faces now has no such smile.

Eli steps forward, places his duffle by an empty seat. The chairs are as uncomfortable as he remembers. He tries to relax as much as possible, anyhow. He has a feeling the coming conversation will not be pleasant.

One slim blue finger keys a code into the desk console. The muted lights dim for a moment, as the office secures itself for private conversation.

There was a time this would have given Eli a sense of security; just he and Thrawn, speaking of matters the Empire had better not hear. Eli had been confident, at that time, of Thrawn’s trust in him.

And he had trusted Thrawn in turn, completely.

And now?

“Is there anything you wish to report, between your last transmission and the present?” Thrawn begins.

“No. I left the Ascendancy shortly after. There’s nothing new to note.”

“Good.”

“I’ve finished the reports you sent ahead for me to read,” Eli says. He pauses. “A lot has happened, in a year.”

Thrawn flicks crimson eyes over him, once. “You seem troubled.”

“There are some details I would like clarified from your perspective,” Eli says, choosing his words carefully.

“Then specify,” Thrawn says, in that efficient, almost-blunt way of his. “I will describe said events with as much accuracy as I am able.” 

“Why did you make an example of the man at the Lothal Imperial Army Complex?”

“The people of Lothal are stubborn, like the rock which they mine,” Thrawn replies as he steps lightly over to softly glowing hologram. The sculpture projected there is all right-angles and thick beams, solid, unyielding. “As such, they required a more…severe form of persuasion. It is regrettable. But should I have allowed the tampering of Imperial arms to continue, it is more than likely that most of the factory hands would have been executed. Governor Pryce does not take kindly to sabotage.”

Eli remains silent for a long moment, watching him.

When Eli does not speak, Thrawn looks back at him with a smooth turn of his head, blue chin tilting over gold epaulets.

Predatory.

Eli has used that word to refer with Thrawn in his thoughts before, certainly.

But never in connection with Eli himself. 

Eli wonders how many of his own rapidly-coalescing conclusions are truly based off logic. His emotions are certainly not anywhere near balanced.

“Commander Vanto?” Thrawn prompts.

“I see,” Eli manages. His voice is not as steady as he would like, but he will have to make do. “And the civilian casualties on Ryloth?”

Thrawn’s lips thin in memory. “Ryloth, while a victory, had not the best of results. I had anticipated the civilian uprising, but the Rebels supplied them with weaponry beyond what we had heard in preliminary reports. In an effort to prevent further bloodshed, I authorized ground forces to be more forceful than previously planned.”

Preventing executions. Preventing further bloodshed. 

It sounds almost…good, to the untrained ear. 

But Eli is nowhere near untrained, courtesy of Thrawn himself.

“One more question,” Eli murmurs. “Lieutenant Yogar Lyste. He was captured in suspicion of being a Rebel spy.”

“Correct,” Thrawn says, watching Eli with undivided attention, now. His red eyes gleam brightly in the half-light.

“You knew he wasn’t.” 

“That is also correct.”

“But his interrogation and imprisonment was allowed to go forward,” Eli says, accent slipping through even stronger than usual, now.

Thrawn remains quiet for a moment, back straight, hands behind his back. The very picture of an Imperial Grand Admiral.

“I am surprised you do not see the necessity of fooling the true Rebel spy into thinking he had escaped unnoticed,” Thrawn says, quite calmly. “I should have thought the logic clear. Unless the report was worded inadequately.”

“I understand that completely,” Eli says, fighting to keep his voice from rising, now. His hands twist around each other, elbows braced on his knees as he leans forward, looking up at Thrawn. “But there wasn’t a need to truly interrogate Lieutenant Lyste. Questioning, of course – but interrogation? Incarceration?”

“Agent Kallus was an extremely resourceful member of the Imperial Security Bureau,” Thrawn says. “Do not doubt that should less have been done to Lieutenant Lyste than what was reported, Agent Kallus would have noted the inconsistency and attempted to flee.” Those dark blue eyebrows flicker, once. “He would have been unsuccessful, but I would have then found much more difficulty in discerning the location of their Rebel base. There was no guarantee interrogation would have revealed information, considering Agent Kallus’s Bureau training.” 

A long pause.

“You interrogated him yourself, when you did capture him,” Eli says. It is not a question.

“Yes,” Thrawn confirms. “Before he escaped.”

“Where is Lieutenant Lyste, now?” Eli asks quietly, not looking at Thrawn. Or anything at all, really. 

“He was honourably discharged,” Thrawn says. “His health was deemed insufficient for continued service. He has been returned to his homeworld with a sufficient military retirement pension.”

“And how old is Lieutenant Lyste, exactly?” Eli continues. His voice sounds odd, even to himself.

Thrawn tilts his head. “Twenty-five standard, I believe. You will find his full file in the datapad given to you.”

Twenty-five standard.

Eli tastes bile.

Thrawn takes a step towards him. “You seem distressed.”

“Maybe I am,” Eli whispers, so softly he almost imagines that he did not say it, but thought it, hurling the thought towards his friend’s ever-calm face. 

His friend.

But what of friends?

What of friends, indeed.

“I think I might have a problem,” Eli says, looking up. He is sure there is probably some betraying moisture in his eyes, now, but he wants to look Thrawn in his eye as he says this.

“Elaborate,” Thrawn says, crimson gaze flickering over his dampening eyes, the hands Eli clenches on his armrests – “Then we will solve it together.”

“No, I–” Eli passes a hand over his face. “I didn’t phrase that correctly. I have a problem with this.”

Thrawn gazes at him, steadily.

And then: “Explain.”

“I’ve aware I’ve been gone for over a year,” Eli says, striving to remain grounded. “But the things you’ve just explained to me, Thrawn,” – and here he catches himself, the name having slipped out from a mind too jumbled to separate thought from speech – “I can’t accept them.”

Thrawn’s eyes had moved minutely when Eli had spoken his name, but he is now impassive, quietly calculating, as he always is. He crosses his arms, and one long finger taps at his chin.

“What is unacceptable about them?” he inquires, as though this were a simple discussion – not a rending of a world, the destruction of minds.

Or one mind. Eli’s.

Eli feels strangely detached from all this, like the man sitting in the chair is someone else entirely, and he is watching from an outsider’s perspective.

“Killing civilians,” he says, voice quickening. “Torturing an innocent officer for the crimes of another. Cruelty.” Eli glances away, sharply. “I would have never thought you cruel,” he murmurs, almost to himself.

“The situation is quite different now as compared when you left for the Ascendency.” Thrawn’s stare seems to have doubled in intensity, now – quite a feat, and to anyone else, probably incredibly frightening.

Eli is not anyone else.

“That is what an Imperial officer would say,” Eli says, quietly. “But you were never just an Imperial officer.” 

“My role requires certain sacrifice on my part to maintain the deception. You are aware of it.” 

“I am aware,” Eli replies, tonelessly. “But then, I thought there was a line. Values you would not compromise, even for the sake of your mission.” 

Thrawn does not reply. 

Eli stands, walks up to Thrawn – the Chiss is still taller than him by a considerable margin, but he raises his head to look Thrawn in the eyes. “I don’t know,” Eli says. “I don’t know, anymore.”

“What is it you do not know?” Thrawn asks. The emotion is showing more clearly on his face, now. His brows are furrowed. His lips are pressed together.

“Is it that your mission is more important than all else, even innocent life?” Eli says, voice trembling, now. “Or is it that you’ve forgotten your mission, and even now have become a true pawn of the Emperor?”

“I do not think I have done either,” Thrawn says, eyes flashing dangerously, now.

Eli notes, with a detached sort of shock, that he has succeeded in making Thrawn angry.

Astonishing. It is something he had not wished to ever do before, but now that it is done seems the easiest thing in the world.

And then something flickers in Thrawn’s eyes, and Eli realises with something akin to wonder that it is not anger at all.

It is fear. 

It would be flattering to assume it is fear for the loss of a friend.

How Eli wishes it is fear for a warping of self, instead. A Thrawn with faults admitted and a promise of change, he could work with.

But he knows that is not what is before him. 

“You don’t regret a single thing you’ve done since I’ve left,” Eli says, slowly.

Thrawn looks down at him.  “No,” he says. “As I’ve taught you before, regret is always eclipsed by–”

Eli punches him across the jaw.

A shocked grunt slips out of blue lips as Thrawn stumbles back against a stone wall graffitied with an orange-red bird of some sort. His cloak crumples around him as he stumbles, falling to the ground.

Liquid scarlet drips down onto the pure white expanse of the imperial uniform, limning the squares of the rank plaque with sanguine paint.

Eli does not know whether to be grateful that Thrawn apparently still trusted him enough after that conversation for his guard to be entirely lowered, or to feel guilty about it.

And then he thinks of Yogar Lyste, and the sentiment flees.

He lowers his hand, knuckles smarting. A quick glance at them reveals they have split open.

Like Thrawn’s lip.

Thrawn rises to his feet gracefully, unhurriedly, and presses a fingertip to his lip. It comes away deep, velvet red.

Thrawn meets Eli’s gaze again, and those red eyes are unreadable, now; since the midpoint of their years together, Eli had always been able to read at least the most superficial of Thrawn’s intentions by his eyes alone, but they are now as closed to him as they are to others.

Eli feels like he is quite ready to weep, now. Or sleep for eternity. To run away from all this. 

Thrawn waits for him to speak. Red drips down his chin, down his neck, soaking into the white collar in an irremovable stain.

“This is what I am going to do,” Eli says, calmly. Determination has slid over him now, in the absence of a greater purpose.

He had served the Empire under Thrawn. And then Thrawn had told him to go to the Chiss, so he had served the Chiss under Thrawn’s orders.

And now he can no longer serve Thrawn, there remains only his next logical step. 

One logical step after another, in the most unsure of times, Thrawn had once told him. And eventually, a larger picture will emerge. One brushstroke after another. 

“I am going to walk out of this office,” Eli says. “And go to the main ventral hangar. I will take a shuttle, and leave the system. If at any point in the process if I am stopped, and told I am under arrest, I will not protest. I will come willingly.” He pauses, and a bitter smile flickers across his face. “That depends on whether you’ll send someone after me, of course.”

Thrawn does not say anything.

Eli crosses over to his duffel, kneels beside it, and withdraws Thrawn’s journal, still carefully packed in its waterproof cover. 

“This is yours,” he says, holding it out to Thrawn.

Thrawn reaches out with an elegant, blood-tipped hand, and places it over the surface of the packet, as though he could feel the words within.

A pause.

“Keep it,” Thrawn says. His voice is quite unchanged. “For the sake of the last entry.”

Does Eli imagine it, or have Thrawn’s eyes dimmed?

Eli feels the first of his tears spill up over the edge of his eyelids.

The journal burns into his hand. He turns vehemently, scoops up his duffel, and strides away. He will not let Thrawn see his tears fall.

Four levels later, in the main hangar, Eli tenses as a stormtrooper patrol passes.

But they pass without giving him a second glance.

Eli chooses a nondescript supply transport – he is not stupid enough to take a Lambda, not without knowing where he will be – and slides heavily into the pilot’s seat. Not bothering with pre-flight checks, he tosses his duffle into the copilot’s seat, brings the engines up from a cold start, and as soon as he is reasonably sure the repulsors will not fail from their abrupt awakening, shoots out of the hangar.

The journal on the seat beside him has a red fingerprint on its packet front, congealing rapidly in the ‘cycled air.

The comm crackles with a sharp order from the bridge communications officer regarding unauthorized departure, but then there is a garbled voice from beyond the range of the comm, and the officer suddenly cuts himself off.

Eli sets the navigation computer to random set of coordinates.

He turns in his seat, a moment before the shuttle jumps.

The Chimaera hangs upon the backdrop of stars, beautiful. Deadly. Home.

With a horrible wrenching of his heart, Eli makes the jump.

In his private office, Grand Admiral Thrawn allows his fingers to slide off the comm button on his desk. The comm button, like his collar, is stained red, now.

He stands there for a long time. Through the numerous comm-calls, to his desk and his communicator. Through the pounding on his door, when it comes much later. 

Even when Commodore Faro’s voice filters in from the short corridor, announcing that she is entering, he does not do anything except raise a hand, halting her shocked intake of breath when she sees him.

There is nothing to say.

END

Thanks for reading - just a note, I’ve cross posted this to FFN too!

If you want more Thrawn, try A Maudlin Thing (FFN | tumblr) or Coruscanti Chiss, or The Most Beautiful Artwork.

My fanfic masterlist

My FFN profile and stories

[coldheartedimperialgovernor]

(Continued from here)

@askthrawn

Arihnda looked down and thought for a moment. He actually forgiven her. As he probably would. After all, to her, she knew he needed her. Politics was indeed something that he lacked, and she still needed to teach him the ropes of it. Glancing up at Thrawn, she listened to him and nodded. Hearing about her faulty attitude towards that rebel Mandalorian, she looked away a bit inshame, but did not fret.

“Of course, Grand Admiral. Your words are nothing but eloquent.” she said nodding. “I will strive to do even better, if not, harder to fill up to your expectations.” Especially if she was going to make her own name, her own strong name that the Imperials will fear. So far, she felt like she had literally became more of a joke. Being allowed to loose to rebels when she had the upper hand? Unforgiveable! She wanted to ensure this bad luck faded away, and for once, actually achieve a smashing victory, just like Batonn... yes... just like Batonn.

[askthrawn]

Thrawn raised an eyebrow as he takes a bite of his steak. “It is true I did become a Grand Admiral in just 4 years. I had a major victory at the battle at Batonn that grant me the rank of Grand Admiral.”

The party had just begun

@themoonsaberfamily

A party was held on the perstine planet of Coruscant. Yularen had invited Thrawn and Eli to the party as the people all gathered around to converse with one another.

Of course, people were a bit turned off by the aliens that Thrawn had invited. That being some of his daughter’s friends.

[kartoon816]

#Repost @starwars_lore ・・・ Grand Admiral Thrawn (Mitth'raw'nuruodo) He was a Chiss who served as a member of the Chiss Ascendancy and an officer in the Imperial Navy, holding the rank of Grand Admiral in the years prior to the Galactic Civil War. Thrawn hailed from the Unknown Regions and had knowledge of the uncharted region of the galaxy, knowledge that The Emperor used due to his interest in discovering the secrets of the dark side of the Force that the Unknown Regions held. During the Clone Wars, Thrawn was exploring the Outer Rim of the galaxy to find out if the Galactic Republic could be an ally to the Chiss Ascendancy and met Jedi General Anakin Skywalker, who he aided in battle; he concluded that the Republic would be a poor ally. Years later, after the Republic had transformed into the Galactic Empire, he managed to join the Imperial Navy as a Lieutenant. Believing in the importance of understanding an enemy's culture, art, and philosophy to defeat them, Thrawn, helped by his aide Eli Vanto, rose through the ranks. By 2 BBY, Thrawn had been promoted to Grand Admiral and given the command of the Seventh Fleet due to his victory over a rebel insurgency at Batonn. He was then assigned to destroy the Phoenix Squadron located in the Lothal sector, which was a part of the growing rebellion against the Empire. His efforts were aimed at discovering the location of the rebel base which proved successful and allowed his forces to press an attack. The battle was a success and Phoenix Squadron was mostly destroyed; however, the Spectres, most of the important rebel leaders, escaped along with the Imperial traitor Kallus. Moreover, the Empire suffered major losses and Thrawn received a prediction of his defeat from a mysterious Force-sensitive individual known as the Bendu. At the end of the Galactic Civil War, the remnants of the Imperial Navy, defeated by the New Republic at the Battle of Jakku, ventured into the Unknown Regions to rebuild. Thrawn's knowledge of the Unknown Regions was in part used to travel to the region of space, where the Empire's remnants became the First Order. • What do you think of Thrawn? Tag a friend in the comments below and let me k

[uberpuppies]

Rebels Thrawn: I will bide my time, waiting for all the rebel cells to assemble so I can destroy them all at once. I will accept no surrender. My victory will be complete. Batonn was just the beginning. I will take other people's art and no one can stop me.

Rebels Thrawn: *scary fade to black with red eyes glowing in the dark*

Hera on Rebels Thrawn: An evil so terrible it tried to black out the stars...

Book Thrawn: Hey Eli, what does 'insubordination' mean? Krayt spit? I don't get it. Why is everyone yelling and promoting me at the same time?

Book Thrawn: Hello Mr Nightswan, terribly sorry about this whole battle we're having. Would you mind surrendering maybe? Like less people would die and stuff. Do you need a job? I can put in a good word for you.

Book Thrawn: I like art. A lot. Eli, we must save the art and return it to its people. I made digital copies so I can check them out on my datapad :)

[not-vladek00]

Rebels Thrawn: I will bide my time, waiting for all the rebel cells to assemble so I can destroy them all at once. I will accept no surrender. My victory will be complete. Batonn was just the beginning. I will take other people's art and no one can stop me.

Rebels Thrawn: *scary fade to black with red eyes glowing in the dark*

Hera on Rebels Thrawn: An evil so terrible it tried to black out the stars...

Book Thrawn: Hey Eli, what does 'insubordination' mean? Krayt spit? I don't get it. Why is everyone yelling and promoting me at the same time?

Book Thrawn: Hello Mr Nightswan, terribly sorry about this whole battle we're having. Would you mind surrendering maybe? Like less people would die and stuff. Do you need a job? I can put in a good word for you.

Book Thrawn: I like art. A lot. Eli, we must save the art and return it to its people. I made digital copies so I can check them out on my datapad :)

[nebulous-bounds]

Rebels Thrawn: I will bide my time, waiting for all the rebel cells to assemble so I can destroy them all at once. I will accept no surrender. My victory will be complete. Batonn was just the beginning. I will take other people's art and no one can stop me.

Rebels Thrawn: *scary fade to black with red eyes glowing in the dark*

Hera on Rebels Thrawn: An evil so terrible it tried to black out the stars...

Book Thrawn: Hey Eli, what does 'insubordination' mean? Krayt spit? I don't get it. Why is everyone yelling and promoting me at the same time?

Book Thrawn: Hello Mr Nightswan, terribly sorry about this whole battle we're having. Would you mind surrendering maybe? Like less people would die and stuff. Do you need a job? I can put in a good word for you.

Book Thrawn: I like art. A lot. Eli, we must save the art and return it to its people. I made digital copies so I can check them out on my datapad :)

[minniethemoocherda]

Rebels Thrawn: I will bide my time, waiting for all the rebel cells to assemble so I can destroy them all at once. I will accept no surrender. My victory will be complete. Batonn was just the beginning. I will take other people's art and no one can stop me.

Rebels Thrawn: *scary fade to black with red eyes glowing in the dark*

Hera on Rebels Thrawn: An evil so terrible it tried to black out the stars...

Book Thrawn: Hey Eli, what does 'insubordination' mean? Krayt spit? I don't get it. Why is everyone yelling and promoting me at the same time?

Book Thrawn: Hello Mr Nightswan, terribly sorry about this whole battle we're having. Would you mind surrendering maybe? Like less people would die and stuff. Do you need a job? I can put in a good word for you.

Book Thrawn: I like art. A lot. Eli, we must save the art and return it to its people. I made digital copies so I can check them out on my datapad :)