Alien Admiral Fucks First Officer

Chapter One: Discovery

When Commodore Karyn Faro first agreed to an "extended arrangement" with her commander, maintaining secrecy had been her main concern. After the initial passion and joy of having her feelings reciprocated, she'd hit Grand Admiral Thrawn with the most serious pillow talk either of them had ever experienced. They'd approached the situation like any other strategic objective with the understanding that a single misstep could cost them both their careers. Said discussion took the better part of a night.

The final agreement resembled a legal contract more than a battle plan, much less anything romantic. In it were a lengthy list of rules most easily summarized by the following five points:

1. No showing affection while on duty. Both parties agree to refrain from physical and verbal displays of the romantic or sexual variety for the duration of their shifts. Even were it not for the need to remain discreet, they are the two top officers of the Chimaera and ought to set an example for their crew.

2. Given that Faro had visited Thrawn in his personal quarters before their extended arrangement began, visitation to that area remains permissible during off hours. All evidence of a personal relationship is to be contained within that area. Should Faro wish to spend the night there, she will have to follow the appropriate procedure (outlined elsewhere).

3. Thrawn's insistence that a people's culture offers strategic insight and must be studied closely is the default cover story for them to view art collections, holodramas, concerts, and theater productions together. After all, what commander wouldn't wish to pass on his knowledge to a promising subordinate?

4. Military objectives come before personal ones. To mutual relief, both parties agree that their ambitions exclude from their relationship many things, including but not limited to: marriage, procreation, personalized gifts, combined finances, and unique consideration on the battlefield (to the extent the last item can be consciously avoided). The only traditional obligation the two will maintain to each other as a sign of their relationship is sexual and romantic fidelity for so long as the relationship shall last.

5. Under no condition may either individual disclose the nature of this extended arrangement to any third party. Any and all suspicions from others are to be met with convincing denial. Forcible attempts to expose the relationship, should they occur, are to be resisted at all due cost.

Coming up with these rules had been straightforward enough, but implementing them had taken a bit of adjustment. Far from a sweeping change, it was shocking how little this relationship altered the contours of Faro's daily routine. Thrawn was so convincingly professional when she first approached him during her shift that she questioned her reality at first. Then evening would come around on a night when neither had to work late, both parties would leave their office, and Faro would ask Thrawn if she could walk with him on his way back to his quarters to discuss "a mutual concern".

The minute the door to Thrawn's quarters closed, he became a different person. Less… measured. In private, he could speak openly, just as she so often asked to. Be they scathing rants or humorous asides, Thrawn learned he could trust Faro with his inner thoughts. In turn, Faro discovered that they both carried a fondness for observational humor and that Thrawn had an endearing laugh when he didn't attempt to silence it. They could spend hours laughing together, comforted by the knowledge that no one else could hear them.

In those first weeks, however, Faro would always leave before the hour was late. Be it exhaustion or paranoia, she never spent the night in Thrawn's bed. And though having sex together on their first night had been wonderful, physical intimacy only occasionally strayed beyond light kissing and soft embraces in the subsequent days. Both Faro and Thrawn had been touch starved for years when they began their relationship, him more so than her. Neither was ready to completely change their habits, even in the face of new opportunities.

Keep that in mind for later.

Now that two weeks had passed since agreeing to an extended arrangement, Faro was starting to tone down her anxieties. She'd been worried her fellow officers might question her about her changes in behavior, but so far, no one had. Best she could tell, no one had even noticed. No sidelong glares, no curious glances, no prying of any sort. It was amazing. Why hadn't they done this months ago?

Faro was just asking herself as much when she stepped onto the bridge. She had no battle to direct, no mission to command. The whole thing was a routine checkup. So why was a group of junior officers watching her every move?

"As you were, Lieutenant, Ensigns." To their credit, some of them did try to return to their duties. They sat down, certainly. But every time Faro glanced back at them, she caught the eyes of at least six men over and over again. Always the same group, most of them barely out of the academy.

She tried to ignore them, but something in their eyes ate at her. She was used to deference from junior officers, and the occasional fear was expected, but this wasn't either of those things. In their eyes, she saw an array of emotions ranging from amusement to confusion to disgust. Try as she might to think of a reason, Faro had no idea what she'd done to receive such an assessment. Unless… no. No way.

As Faro was finishing her rounds, she doubled back to where her gawkers were located. "Do we have a problem over here?"

Snorts. Coughs. Glances towards the floor. "No, sir."

"I noticed you trying to catch my attention earlier." Faro tried to be generous in her dealings with the young men. "Did you notice something unusual on the radar?"

"No, sir."

"Is there something else you wish to tell me, then? Speak up, Lieutenant Carter."

The tip of the lieutenant's ears turned red. He failed to meet Faro's eyes as he spoke. "It's… I'm not sure what to call it, Commodore. One of the ship's ensigns was browsing the holonet last night. He... may have found evidence of a security breach on the Chimaera. The nature of the matter is… most unusual."

"Unusual? How so, Lieutenant?"

"I have not seen it for myself, Commodore. According to these men's report, the um, the breach included security footage from the ship. Footage taken from the, um, the grand admiral's quarters."

It took all of Faro's professionalism not to react to that statement. "I agree with your assessment then, Lieutenant. Such a thing would be most unusual. Mainly because no security cameras are stationed within anyone's quarters, much less the grand admiral's. Only the entrances to such places are monitored."

"So it was a peeper who recorded it!" One of the ensigns let loose to his neighbor. The speaker chuckled, but his buddy gulped. Each went silent when they noticed Faro glaring at them.

Faro forced herself to exhale through her nose. Now was no time to let her paranoia run rampant. She couldn't give anything away "This recording of Grand Admiral Thrawn's quarters, should it exist, is a gross violation of his privacy. The implication that someone was able to install unauthorized surveillance there is alarming. I trust whichever ensign found this evidence has reported the crime to its proper channels?"

Now the lieutenant's entire face was burning. "No, sir. The ensign who spoke to me is not the one who initially found the recording. That individual first shared his discovery with his friends here before one of them became concerned with the, um, the security implications."

"An unknown party uploads footage claiming to originate from a private place on the Chimaera and security concerns are not the first thing on everyone's mind?" She cocked her head, refusing to show fear. "How is that so? Which ensign did you say found this supposed breach, Lieutenant?"

"I, um… I didn't say, sir."

"Then say it now. Who was it and why did they not see fit to report immediately?"

"...Can we conduct this conversation in your office, Commodore? For, um… for your sake?"

Her sake? That wasn't a good sign. Faro had a dilemma on her hands. Either she acknowledged she had something to fear by obliging the lieutenant's request, or he revealed what he knew here and now where a large section of the bridge could hear them. The longer she hesitated, the worse things would appear to the outside.

Hm. Better to take the known risk, she supposed. "Very well. Lieutenant Carter, bring the ensign who found this breach and the one who reported it to my office immediately. The rest of you may get back to work." She turned on her heel before anyone had a chance to respond. It took conscious effort to keep her walking speed consistent.

Only when she reached her office did Faro dare look back. She sat down behind her desk and refused to watch anything but the door. Since the lieutenant didn't arrive right away, she took her time alone to steel herself. Nerves would do nothing to aid her case.

On her third breath, the door slid open. Faro sat frozen as three men entered her office. "Lieutenant, Ensigns."

All three saluted. Faro recognized one of the ensigns from her encounter on the bridge, but the other… she wasn't sure their paths had ever crossed. He must work elsewhere on the ship. That explained why the lieutenant had not come right away.

"Are these the ensigns I requested, Lieutenant Carter?"

"Yes, sir. Ensign Kydo is the one who found the recording I mentioned, and Ensign Patel is the one who reported it to me." Ensign Patel was the one from the bridge. He was doing everything he could not to meet Faro's eyes. Kydo, on the other hand, looked ready to burst out laughing at any moment.

Carter continued. "I am Ensign Patel's direct supervisor. He made the appropriate decision coming to me. I fully intended to report the breach to the correct authorities as soon as possible. Then I encountered you on the bridge, and… well…"

Faro put up a hand, damming the flow of the lieutenant's speech. "Thank you, Lieutenant Carter. I require nothing else from you. You may return to the bridge."

Carter's eyes widened. He was not prepared to leave his subordinate behind in this situation, but he understood he had no choice in the matter. "Yes, Commodore."

Faro waited for the door to close before addressing the two men in front of her. "Ensign Kydo. Describe how you discovered this security breach. Lieutenant Carter tells me you were searching the holonet last night?"

"Yes... sir. I was letting loose after my shift and logged onto a… a holovid sharing site. I checked the trending page to see what was new and noticed, well," his lips quirked, "a familiar face. The grand admiral."

"And you," Ensign Patel added, shuffling his feet. "Sir."

Faro raised an eyebrow. "I was present in this recording?"

"Yessir," Patel confirmed.

"Quite present," Kydo said at the same time. "Viewers saw a lot of you in that recording. A lot of Grand Admiral Thrawn, too."

Faro had the worst feeling that she knew what the ensign meant, but she had to keep up the act. She'd promised Thrawn she would. "On what holonet platform did you encounter this breach, Ensign?"

"Eros' Corner. Breaches of all sorts occur on that website."

"That's concerning. I will inform the information technology crew to scan all holonet compatible devices for viruses and malware once our meeting is over. Why would you seek out such a dangerous website, Ensign?"

"What? No, that's not what I meant. Have you really never heard of Eros' Corner, sir?"

Faro had heard of the porn site, but she refused to admit it. Least of all to these two. "I am not familiar with this platform, nor should it matter. Ensign Kydo, you discovered evidence of a privacy and security violation that had taken place on this vessel. Security footage from the Chimaera is never publicly distributed, and the location of this supposed footage indicates to me that it did not come from an authorized source. Despite the alarming implications of these facts, you did not report what you had found. Instead, you shared it with your crewmates. Is that correct?"

"How am I the person in trouble here? You're the one in the video banging it out!"

"Jon…" Patel warned his friend. He forced himself to face Faro. "Ensign Kydo showed us what he found late last night. We were all shocked by what we saw. I was so surprised by what was in the holovid that I didn't think of the security concerns until later. I don't know if it's real, but if it is… I'm sorry we didn't say anything. I told Lieutenant Carter this morning after I'd slept on it."

The contents were shocking? What had this holovideo captured, exactly?

Oh stars. Faro was being an idiot. Eros' Corner was a pornography website. What else from her relationship could possibly warrant an upload to such a platform?

Her stomach dropped. Her fists clenched. "Ensign Patel… this holovideo you saw. Are you claiming you viewed a sex tape?"

"Yessir."

"Between the grand admiral and myself?"

"Yessir… wait. If the holovid was recorded without your consent, is it still a sex tape?"

"Really? That's your question?" Kydo turned to Patel before bringing his eyes back to Faro. "So that's how you got promoted, huh sir?"

Faro didn't honor him with a response. "This meeting is over. Ensign Kydo, you are to face disciplinary action for both failure to report a security threat and insubordination. You are dismissed." Kydo protested on his way out, but shut up when threatened with further punishment.

Faro then focused her attention on Patel, "Ensign Patel, you will provide me with the names of everyone else who witnessed this recording so that they may also be punished for failure to report. Once you have done so, you may return to your shift."

He named his crewmates in a heartbeat. The ensign didn't ask Faro any questions about what he'd seen, but she could tell he wanted to.

Only once she dismissed Ensign Patel did Faro allow herself to panic. How had this happened? They'd been careful. They'd followed the rules they made together. How was it someone had still discovered the extended arrangement that existed between her and Thrawn? Why had they chosen to expose them in such a crude manner?

And what sort of scheme involved filming Thrawn's intimate moments for public release? If someone had planted a secret camera in Thrawn's quarters, why would they admit to the fact in such an unorthodox fashion? Had the spy already gotten what they wanted before releasing the video? Was it their goal to ruin Thrawn's reputation? How was Faro ever going to come back from this?

All of Faro's paranoia from the past two weeks came rushing back. She felt all her hopes and aspirations dancing before her eyes, spiraling away in the wake of this mounting embarrassment. Punishing subordinates for watching her have sex may bring temporary relief, but it would not solve the problem at hand. She had to know how that footage had come into existence. She had to know who'd taken it and what their agenda was. She had to get the holovid taken down and thoroughly, publicly discredited.

But most of all, she had to tell Thrawn.

A/N's: This idea came to me about a month and a half ago. As you can see from both the title and subject matter, the fic is rated M for a reason. Perhaps not the reasons you were expecting, but legitimate reasons nonetheless.

I tried to get rid of this plot bunny, but it won't go away. I hope as this fic goes on that it is at least somewhat funny. I spent more time setting up the scenario than I did on humor in this chapter. Credit goes to draculard of Ao3 fame for hearing my idea out and telling me it's worth pursing. I have nothing better to do in quarantine at the moment, so... enjoy!