boxofmisfits | Reluctant Allies

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Reluctant Allies

Thrawn thought he was going to die. He was going to die, never to see the people he cared for again, and never bring the Empire's resources back to the Unknown Region to fight the threats facing his people. He had his share of regrets, and all of them flashed through his mind right before the purrgil had dragged them into hyperspace.

To his surprise, he wakes up hours later, no longer in the grip of the creature. By some miracle, he's still alive. Disoriented and sore, but alive.

Opening his eyes, Thrawn props himself up and looks out the broken window. There's sunlight outside, and the ship isn't moving. The purrgil had deposited them somewhere. Where it was they'd landed, has to be determined.

Looking around, he spots the young Jedi. All his plans, carefully laid out, have been torn asunder by this boy. Bridger doesn't understand what he'd done, how could he? The rebellion didn't know that there were larger threats besides Palpatine's Empire, or that Thrawn's always had his own motivations outside of the Emperor's.

There's just the slightest hint of a groan as Thrawn sits up fully, still regarding Bridger.

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Despite the first kerfuffle, Ezra wakes up relatively early, a bit of an instinct after years alone and as a rebel. There weren't many days where he got to sleep in, and he can remember Kanan scolding him the one time he overslept and missed a lesson.

When Thrawn knocks at his door, he's meditating. Reaching out, for anything, anyone. Ahsoka's still out there, and she said she'd find him. Of course back then, she probably thought he meant meeting up at the rebel base.

"Yeah, one second," he calls out, centering himself in the here and now. As he opens the door, Thrawn will probably notice Ezra hasn't done any morning routines at all. Well, it's not like he has any other clothes.

"Your bed's comfier, by the way. In case you were wondering."

"I am not surprised," Thrawn says it stoically, yet there's an imperceptible look on his face, as if he's sharing a very private joke. To one who hasn't spent very much time around Thrawn, they likely won't even notice it. Nor will Thrawn elaborate if asked.

They will also need to see about possibly getten Ezra more clothing. Most of the crew tend to keep civilian clothing for when they get shore leave, so perhaps someone has something that will fit the boy.

"Come, we will set out after we have a meal." Waving two fingers, Thrawn beckons Ezra to follow him down to the mess hall.

The food isn't exactly gourmet, and is rather standard mess hall fare. Thrawn still eats it without complaint. Rather noticeable is that he's willing to eat in the same mess hall as his crew, whereas most Admirals prefer to eat their meals in their quarters, away from the lower-ranking crew.

Ezra raises an eyebrow, but doesn't say anything because uh, what can you say to that? He follows along to the mess hall, reminded of the few meals he had on Yavin 4. Although, that wasn't quite as organized as this. Or as lonely.

At least food is a good distraction. He grabs a bunch and scarfs it down quickly.

"What's your plan anyways?" he says with a mouth full of food, "Are we just gonna wander around like I did or...?"

"I had some of my scouts do preliminary explorations." They'd been ordered not to go too far, and merely check for hidden dangers or what would be a good route for him and Ezra to start with. "We will start by heading northeast. There is a stream in that direction, and we will follow it. We will also need to see which plants may be edible."

"When do I get my own scouts?" Yes, it's only been a day and he's joking, but it'd still be nice. "And are you okay to walk that far? I guess I could carry you..." Ezra's stronger than he looks, especially with the Force, but he doesn't want to?

"I am capable of walking, Bridger. The damage I sustained was not severe," Thrawn finishes off his meager meal, because the sooner they leave, the better. Thrawn's given his crew the pep talk, and assured them that with Bridger at his side, he'll be quite safe.

"I suggest you visit the armory and obtain a weapon. I have already told my quartermaster that you may arm yourself." It would be better if Bridger had his lightsaber, but he knew the boy would leave it with his friends, since Thrawn would have just had it taken anyway.

"Oh... right. Yeah." Thinking about picking up a blaster makes his lack of saber feel even more obvious. It's the sort of feeling he couldn't explain to anyone, or at least not Thrawn. But it's better off with Sabine, he knows that.

"Any chance you collected antique lightsabers because they're technically works of art?" he asks, actually a little hopeful.

"Not a physical example, I'm afraid," Thrawn has holos of antique lightsabers, and has studied them, of course. "Such items are not easy to get ahold of. However, if you happen to find a kyber crystal, you may ask for parts to build a new one."

Thrawn has seen holos of Ezra, taken from security footage, from back when he had his old lightsaber. The one he assembled from scrap and spare parts. Obviously something happened to it, for him to replace it with the green one.

Ask's a funny way of putting it. Like he's a kid asking for permission.

"Believe it or not, but such items are not easy to get ahold of either," he says with his best impression of Thrawn. Kyber crystals have never been easy to find, especially with the Empire collecting them for some odd reason in the last few years. Maybe Vader needs an endless supply of lightsabers?

"Since you're letting me have my choice of weapons... does that mean I can go through the armor too?"

He means the helmets, of course.

Thrawn hadn't exactly had a reason to obtain or order kyber crystals in his career. In fact, he and Eli had actually tracked where the Empire was sending them, which led to a rather interesting discovery. Still, Thrawn had no use for kyber crystals, thus it was unlikely that one was on the Chimaera.

"You may take some armor, yes. There should be some that fits you." The boy had certainly disguised himself with stolen armor more than once.

"Prepare yourself, then meet me outside, in the same spot as last night."

"Got it, thanks, see you," he says quickly before running off to raid the armory and so on. Also, he didn't clean up his plate or anything so there's that.

Full access to a ton of Imperial helmets... it's one of his dreams. Although now that he's here, he realizes most of the fun is in taking them from Imperials. Still, he's basically done that already in this case. He caused this situation so... now these helmets are his. For a moment, he debates between trying a helmet he doesn't usually get to wear, but settles for a scout trooper helmet. He also grabs a small blaster rifle, though he doesn't know what he'd need to use it on while they're out exploring.

When he meets up with Thrawn again, he has the helmet on, but with the visor down. Ezra calls out as he approaches, "Hey!"

Thrawn has his usual blaster with him, along with a backpack of rations and equipment they might need. He's also giving orders to his crew, telling them to signal him with the flare gun should anything happen and he needs to return. He also once more reassures them that he's as safe as he could possibly be with a Jedi accompanying him.

He's not surprised that Ezra went with a scout trooper helmet, since he always seemed to favor scout trooper armor and helmets.

"It is a pity Sabine Wren is not here. She always did like to paint your helmets."

He wants to tell him to shut up. That he's not allowed to talk about his family that way. Casually, like they're all old friends. But there's no use. It's only the second day, after all.

"Yeah," he says instead, trying to hold back a full on scowl. "Are you ready? We should go."

Thrawn's nothing if not an art lover, and Sabine is quite the artist.

"I am, yes," Beckoning Bridger with two fingers, Thrawn sets off in the direction they agreed upon. Or rather, the direction Thrawn said they'd be going.

The trees became thicker the farther they walked away from the Star Destroyer, but not thick enough that they cannot still see the sky through the trees. There's no work-down path, indicating no signs of civilization are nearby who might use these woods. Birds chip overhead, and there's some rustling in the bushes.

Ezra follows alongside him, taking in the whole area. He can feel the life surrounding them, and he reassures those close by that they have no intention of harming them. And in a way, they reassure him too. Lothal had lost so much, and to see a planet untouched by the Empire... it's nice.

Not much further in, he can't help but break the silence. "Back there, with your crew. You reminded them that I'm a Jedi. And you mentioned my skills before too. Did you... study the Jedi a lot?"

"I studied them a fair amount. When I learned that I would be facing Jedi, it was only natural that I learn what I could," Thrawn says it so plainly, even though the obvious implication is that he was studying Jedi so he could figure out how to defeat Ezra and Kanan. To defeat an enemy, one must know an enemy, after all.

"You are also not the first Jedi I have worked with."

He's doing the math in his head, trying to figure out how Thrawn could have met a Jedi before him and Kanan and it's... yeah, he has no clue.

"Were there Jedi on your home planet?" he settles on.

Later Ezra might ask what he learned, what resources he might still have. There's so much about the Jedi he still doesn't know, despite maybe being a Jedi Knight now.

Thrawn shakes his head. "No. The Chiss have no Jedi."

It's not a lie. He's just omitting information from Ezra that he doesn't need to know.

"During the final year of the Clone War, I met a Jedi named Anakin Skywalker. He was quite the warrior. Our paths happened to cross while we were on separate missions, and we chose to team up. It was my first encounter with a Jedi."

"You knew Anakin?!"

It's difficult for him to hide his surprise, so he doesn't. Why does everything always come back to Anakin Skywalker, though?

"Sorry, I... I knew his padawan- his student," he adds just in case. There's no way for him to know what Thrawn's Jedi history books go over. "And I used to watch his training holos. His technique was pretty great."

And also, he's Darth Vader now. Does Thrawn know? Should he tell him?

"Ah yes, Ahsoka Tano. General Skywalker's lover mentioned her, and a ship combat technique she invented." The Marg Sabl, Padme had called it. Thrawn had gotten to use it once, during the years before he was a Grand Admiral, and it proved quite effective. A pity he never got to meet the woman.

"He was an accomplished warrior, and we worked well together. The two of us, plus Padme Amidala, thwarted a Seperatist operation far from the Core Worlds."

Thrawn wonders if he should tell Ezra that Anakin is Darth Vader now. He's assuming that the boy is unaware of this, for Thrawn was only able to figure it out through his deductive skills and working alongside the man.

There is so much information here he doesn't know where to begin. Lover sticks out, of course, from what he knows of the old Jedi Order. Not that he's judging Anakin for breaking the rules when his own master had too, but it's hard to picture someone being in love with Vader.

"Wow. So... you guys were friends? You must've been, uh, sad to hear about the Purge, I guess."

"Yes, it was quite disheartening to hear of Anakin's demise," There's an odd tone to Thrawn's voice as he says that. It's almost sad and with a touch of something regretful.

Darth Vader had insisted that Anakin was dead, and Thrawn could tell that the Jedi he knew was no longer there. So, in a way, Anakin Skywalker is indeed gone, and now there is only Darth Vader.

"It was my past with Skywalker that made the Emperor take a chance on me."

The way Thrawn speaks about the former Jedi is familiar. Like how Ahsoka would. Although Ezra doubts she'd be thrilled to hear that comparison.

"Because of Vader," he says, almost as if he's continuing the story. "... right?"

Thrawn pauses, regarding Ezra. Does he know? Did Anakin's former Padawan figure it out and inform the Ghost crew? Or did Ezra just figure it out on their own? Perhaps a combination of the former and the latter?

"Tell me, Bridger, what led you to that conclusion?" This voice isn't chiding or like he thinks Ezra said something dumb. More like he's a teacher asking a student for their though process in how they solved a problem before he tells them they got the answer correct.

"I mean, Palpatine wouldn't care if you had worked with a Jedi. Actually, he would care, but you know what I mean."

If Thrawn had known Obi-Wan Kenobi, his situation would probably be different, for example.

"You used to be friends with a Sith Lord, though. I just wasn't sure if you knew."

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