"They tend to stick to the Unknown Region, it's true. My homeworld only had stories about them to go off of."

And even then, those stories tended to be inaccurate. Thrawn had found them amusing when Eli had told them to him, but still found it interesting, based on what the stories he chose to share said about Eli himself. Thrawn had figured out so much about him in just a short amount of time. It was a bit creepy at first, but it was just how Thrawn was.

Eli could tell that Altair wasn't from the Ascendancy. Where he came from was another mystery. The accent was Imperial, he could tell that much. Perhaps his parents had gotten marooned outside of Chiss space? Eli could come up with a few ideas, and still have no idea how Altair could have gotten Sith training, or come to fear his own kind the way he did.

"Likewise, I'm glad he has you now."

Being the only alien officer among the Imperials, Eli knew that feeling all too well since he went to work with the Chiss. He could understand Thrawn's struggles all the better these days.

"Is he still as politically blind as he was when I was with him?"