To hear a Sith compare himself as lesser than Thrawn, Eli wasn't sure if that said more about Altair or Thrawn. Perhaps it was a combination of Altair being much nicer and less egotistical than the Sith of legends, and Thrawn just being that impressive.
Altair was proving to be an interesting one, and not just because he was a Sith who just so happened to be Chiss. Thrawn had said the circumstances by which he'd come on board the Chimeara had been unusual, but hadn't elaborated. The Grand Admiral had only said that it was some kind of Force thing, and that he trusted Eli to be clever enough to piece it together if Altair didn't confess himself.
The Sith admired Thrawn a lot, and Eli could see that he and Thrawn were close, by the way Thrawn and he spoke of each other. It was obviously much more subdued with Thrawn, but Eli had been around Thrawn long enough to read his expressions.
Altair also had a point about who Thrawn surrounded himself with. He remembered Faro telling him that he was one of the only people on the Chimaera who could see where Thrawn was going with his plans.
"You got that right. I was originally studying at this academy where more people from my region of space went, and then I found myself at the Royal Imperial Academy on Coruscant, because Thrawn insisted I stay with him. I dunno if he told you this, but when we found him, he didn't speak Basic very well, but he did speak Sy Bisti. And I just so happened to be the only person on the ship who could also speak Sy Bisti, so I was his translator and Basic instructor. It helped that I was the only one who had even heard of the Chiss race."
Eli hadn't been very happy about it at the time, but even then, he'd been fascinated by the strange alien he'd only heard about in stories.
"I certainly think I'm special to him. He's my best friend, and even if we're light-years apart, he'll always be my best friend. And, he considers me his friend too. Personally, I think part of the reason he wanted me around him, besides the more practical one, was so that he wouldn't get lonely."
Eli still had that journal Thrawn had written, where the last entry had been a confession that Thrawn considered Eli his friend. It was an undeniably tender gesture from one such as Thrawn.
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Altair was proving to be an interesting one, and not just because he was a Sith who just so happened to be Chiss. Thrawn had said the circumstances by which he'd come on board the Chimeara had been unusual, but hadn't elaborated. The Grand Admiral had only said that it was some kind of Force thing, and that he trusted Eli to be clever enough to piece it together if Altair didn't confess himself.
The Sith admired Thrawn a lot, and Eli could see that he and Thrawn were close, by the way Thrawn and he spoke of each other. It was obviously much more subdued with Thrawn, but Eli had been around Thrawn long enough to read his expressions.
Altair also had a point about who Thrawn surrounded himself with. He remembered Faro telling him that he was one of the only people on the Chimaera who could see where Thrawn was going with his plans.
"You got that right. I was originally studying at this academy where more people from my region of space went, and then I found myself at the Royal Imperial Academy on Coruscant, because Thrawn insisted I stay with him. I dunno if he told you this, but when we found him, he didn't speak Basic very well, but he did speak Sy Bisti. And I just so happened to be the only person on the ship who could also speak Sy Bisti, so I was his translator and Basic instructor. It helped that I was the only one who had even heard of the Chiss race."
Eli hadn't been very happy about it at the time, but even then, he'd been fascinated by the strange alien he'd only heard about in stories.
"I certainly think I'm special to him. He's my best friend, and even if we're light-years apart, he'll always be my best friend. And, he considers me his friend too. Personally, I think part of the reason he wanted me around him, besides the more practical one, was so that he wouldn't get lonely."
Eli still had that journal Thrawn had written, where the last entry had been a confession that Thrawn considered Eli his friend. It was an undeniably tender gesture from one such as Thrawn.