16 BBY
"The Emperor seems to be very fond of strays," Commandant Deenlark remarks brazenly, not hiding the disdain he held towards the male chiss.
Commandant Deenlark was the president of the Royal Imperial Academy on coruscant. As a human born in the core worlds he despised aliens and regarded people from the outer-rim and wild space as "backward yokels" or backwards uncivilized scum in finer terms.
Deenlark had links to several prominent Coruscanti families that served as the academy's benefactors. Over the years Deenlark urged his cadets to put their allegiance to Galactic Empire over their loyalties to their home worlds and their families.
The male chiss said nothing, nor did he show anything. He didn't seemed bothered the least by the man's words and if he did he didn't show it.
"Nonetheless", Deenlark continued
"Foss said you were some kind of fancy face soldier already, all you need is a little orientation in imperial procedures, equipments and terminology."
"That's six months for the raw recruit, probably two years for cadets from the back end of nowhere", he gazed at Cadet Eli Vanto at his last sentence before looking back at Thrawn.
"So here's the deal. Cadet vanto has three months left before commissioning. Thats how long you have to come up to speed. You fail and you're out."
"The Emperor would disagree, commandant Deenlark", Thrawn replies calmly.
"The Emperor's mandate to the academy is to turn out officers worthy of imperial service. Anything less , and the whole navy suffers , officers and enlisted alike. Of course if he wants to put you in by fiat, he can do that . I just hope you'll prove good enough that he won't have to do that", Deenlarks pronounced to the chiss, a scowl still present on his face.
"We shall see", was thrawn's reply.
"I guess we shall….. Admiral Foss said you were to leave here as a lieutenant instead of the standard rank of ensign. Something about getting you into command position as quickly as possible. I figure why waste time," the commandant said as he pulled out a lieutenant rank plaque from a drawer in his desk, handing it to thrawn.
The chiss stared at the rank plaque for a second before looking at the man who almost seemed to display a mischievous smirk a millisecond ago.
"Congratulations Lieutenant thrawn, cadet vanto will show you which way is up." He said in finality before sitting back down as he made a hand gesture to say "you may leave now".
—- —- —- —-
Cadet Barracks
Later that Day
"He didn't give you that plaque from the goodness of his heart. It wasn't to save time either," Vanto advised his roommate looking all but grim at the future problems he'd face due to being fettered with thrawn.
An alien in the Royal Imperial Academy was unheard of atleast to vanto. He knew well of the classism and racism core worlders held for those not born of their race or region of the galaxy.
"Why do you say so?" Thrawn asked curiously .
"There are three reactions that you might receive as soon as you start flashing that thing around." Vanto said
"One:Some students and instructors will see you as Deenlark's pet and despise you for it."
"What is a pet?" Thrawn interrupts still unbothered by the threats he would face being here.
Vanto looked annoyed at the chiss who still hadn't looked his way. The man had put his focus on fiddling with his uniform worn by all cadets of the academy.
"In this case its a slang for a favored student. And so that group will resent you for all the privileges they assume you're getting." Vanto answered.
"Two: Some will see you as a failed officer who's been sent back for a refresher. That group will treat you with complete contempt."
"So this not so much as a gift but a weapon", Thrawn realized as he pulled the plaque from his pocket to analyze it.
"Yes, a weapon against you." Eli confirmed.
"And thirdly: They'll think you're a joke. No, on second thought they'll think you're a test."
"What sort of test?", the chiss turns to his attache.
"The really hard kind. We're not supposed to show disrespect to superior officers and we're not allowed to disrespect aliens either. Officially at least."
"But that's not always what we really do", Vanto spoke for himself.
"Do you dislike nonhumans, Eli Vanto?"
"No, and i'm afraid I'll be hanged drawn and quartered for such an opinion while being here ,especially as I work with you. There were a lot of different nonhuman groups in the separatist movement. So there's a lot of contempt in the core worlds toward people past the mid-rim, humans and nonhumans alike. With me from wild space and you from the unknown regions…"
"So the test for the cadets would be to see how creative they can be in their disrespect towards me?" Thrawn realized
"Basically yes , and also how close they can get without stepping over it." Vanto finished
"I see" was the chiss's reply.
— — — — — — —
Three weeks Later
"I was looking forward to see the alien that has garnered the disdains of my peers." A cadet said as he appeared at Vanto and thrawn's table.
The young man perhaps in his early 20's looked at thrawn with a somewhat curious gaze, yet his expression showed no hints of disrespect nor discomfort, a far cry from what the man normally receives.
The man had two other males to his flanks, both of similar ages though they merely observed their supposed leaders interaction.
Vanto looked somewhat tense borderline uncomfortable as he was expecting the encounter to turn sides ways.
"And who might you be?" Thrawn questions looking rather curious at the strangers.
"A stray… an outcast and some of my fellow cadets have also taken to calling me scum. Though officially I go by the name of Menno Coehern."
Vanto seemed somewhat surprised at this though not quite trusting of the man even though he introduced himself.
"Well met Menno Coehern," Thrawn nodded slowly in greeting.
"I am Thrawn , and my acquaintance here is Eli Vanto" came his introductory reply as he gestured to his partner.
"A pleasure Eli Vanto" Coehern nodded to the chiss's human translator.
He then gestured to his sides. "My friends here Elam Tenit and Raith Sartha," He introduced the men respectively. Both men nodded at the two in respect still holding their food trays in hand without saying a word.
"May we sit?" Menno asked
"At your pleasure", thrawn comments not really seeing why not.
"I believe outcasts like us should stick together wouldn't you say? The social structure of the imperial academy is bias against those like us yet this discrimination only helps us to adapt and grow stronger, even as they try to limit us from forming camaraderie." Menno spouted into a philosophical ideal.
"How observant of you to notice", was thrawn's reply as he raised an eyebrow at the topic