Chapter Text
Quiet moments on an active-duty capital ship in the Imperial Navy were few and far between. There was nothing peaceful about the equivalent of a well populated city floating in space. With a complement of 46,700 souls, a bristling armada including 72 TIE fighters, half a dozen smaller ships, enough Walkers to ruin a small planet (50 to be exact, in two sizes) and provisions enough to keep this well armed metropolis running smoothly for two years, the ISD Chimaera was never tranquil.
But due to recent participation in a fairly ‘hot’ skirmish with some Outer Rim dissidents the Chimaera found herself in dry dock for routine systems maintenance and some minor cosmetic repairs. This was a rare opportunity for the general rank and file to spend some time off-board and explore the planet Wroona, above which the Stardock orbited. Beyond the affected decks and scratched paint panels the ship was almost as quiet as the day the Kuat Drive Yards laid her first hull plate.
Wroona had not been deemed an interesting planet to Commander Eli Vanto so he had opted to stay aboard and dedicate some time to neglected personal projects. In all honesty they weren’t very exciting projects but it would be nice to check a few things off his to do list. Time without distractions, battles and demands from his commanding officer was rare and precious and Eli intended to use some of these moments while he could.
Unfortunately also electing to stay aboard his command was the Chimaera’s captain, and once he had also caught up on his reports to High Command and not relishing the idea of starting the expense report detailing the cosmetic damages he wanted repaired, Admiral Thrawn decided what he desired most was company. Knowing full well Eli had stayed on board and his human companion was likely three cafs into yet another data sheet Thrawn summoned Commander Vanto to his quarters.
Quarters; not office. When his com pinged with the sound of a message incoming it was the first thing Eli noticed. This was not ‘Official Empire Business’ a.k.a the imminent expense report for the paint, but rather the continuation of a mutual ‘personal project’.
For once Eli didn’t have worry about curious or prying eyes as he walked the corridors to Thrawn’s rooms- there were none to witness him. There was no need for secrecy on a ghost ship.
The Chimaera’s eerie silence brought a chill to his spine as randomly a particularly disturbing ghost story from his childhood flickered through his mind and he became aware the Chimaera’s ‘heart’ wasn’t beating. Eli couldn’t recall the last time he had been on a ship whose ion engines were completely powered down which coupled with the unusual consuming shadows made him remember why those stories had kept him up at night.
The Chimaera was a powerful and intimidating figurehead hulking in the dry dock berth dark -waiting. One of the most seasoned juggernauts of the Imperial Navy she led the Seventh Fleet with a ruthless and fearless commander at the conn. But this cycle she was as silent as a tomb- something she could always become for the denizens who inhabited her utilitarian insides.
It wasn't often Eli contemplated the layers of metal between him and the frigid airless black of space but right now as he walked the only sound was his boot heels on the deck echoing with a stark reminder.
With irrational relief he was glad to reach his destination and as the door to Thrawn’s quarters whispered open he shivered from childish fear or perhaps from the particular glint in Thrawn’s red eyes as he entered.
In the Chimaera’s deepest core lurked a monster. Of course Eli didn’t think Thrawn was a monster but there were certainly lots of other beings in the galaxy who did-and with good reason. As a child from Wild Space Eli had also heard lots of scary stories about the mythic Chiss, but just like the tales of sirens and ghost ships of the Unknown Regions he knew they were fiction.
Thrawn however was very real and he welcomed Eli without a sound and with a deep kiss. Thrawn’s quarters were an oasis of light and warmth compared to the rest of the Chimaera and Eli took as much comfort from those as from the arms encircling him and pulling him closer where he could hear the beat of Thrawn’s heart-strong and steady.
Perhaps even rarer than the deep eerie silence of the ship around them was the opportunity to be truly alone. Neither one could remember the last time they had even one watch where they had been allowed to fall into bed without the constant threat of something or someone interrupting. It was novel and exciting. And right now it wasn’t so much a fall but rather a somewhat aggressive pushing and shoving match to escape the constriction of uniforms and duty to be themselves.
Grinning at the prospect of getting to be as loud as he wanted, Eli’s previous misgivings about being left shipside vanished along with any wraiths lingering from his walk through the catacombs.
It was just them now.
And the Chimaera; silent and waiting.