Eli had of course been told the real circumstances of Thrawn's supposed exile. He could only guess that Thrawn had also told Altair, since they obviously trusted one another and Altair wasn't the type to blab secrets, from what Eli had seen.

"We found him on a backwater planet, and he had us running around in circles. Made us think that we were being attacked by multiple hostiles with powerful weaponry, before we figured out it was just one guy. And he did it with berries, some wires, and small explosives. Really, he was just demonstrating what he could do."

Making himself look useful, Eli meant. The event had been rather terrifying at the time, but now Eli looked upon it as a fond memory.

"He managed to sneak aboard the ship by stealing a stormtrooper's armor and, really, I think he let himself be captured. That's when he and I met, when I began translating what he said."