A/N: Let it be known that, yes, I am a Halo fan, and that I am also a Star Wars fan. While I may enjoy playing Halo and reading the books, there are just too many reasons to indicate that the Halo universe is just not developed enough to even begin to compare to Star Wars EU.

The question that people ask, whether elements from Halo can beat Star Wars, is ludicrous. One shouldn't even need to speculate on whether SW can kick Halo in the 'nads. The question is how badly SW would destroy Halo.

In the stillness of space, an Imperial Star Destroyer drifted alone, its large superstructure with its multiple weapons systems, for now, idle.

"Captain, our probes have picked up more of those strange readings somewhere on the far side of the Lehon system," a lieutenant said. "From what our analysts could understand, they seem to be strange gravitic anomalies that appear before knocking out our sensor probes." "And what of visual images, lieutenant? Were our probes able to capture a glimpse of the source of these anomalies?" asked Pellaeon. "Yes, Captain. However the image was distorted by the energy flux created by the anomalies. Our tech engineers are working on scrubbing the image right now but they appear doubtful whether they can get a clear visual on the aliens from it."

Captain Pellaeon quietly considered this finding. Lately, more and more sightings of unknown alien ships have been occurring in this sector. Attempts at communication have been repeatedly rebuffed and Imperial speculation has been leaning toward the idea that this may be a new hostile race that they have yet to deal with. The only good news here is that, as far as Imperial Intelligence is concerned, Coruscant is in no way affiliated with these beings. Whether they can use this knowledge to their advantage is yet to be determined. For now, though, Pellaeon decided to bring this report to the Grand Admiral's attention.

Passing through Thrawn's security clearance was always an uncomfortable experience – not to mention tedious and irritating – but today, Pellaeon opted to ignore the Noghri as much as possible so as to pass the experience more quickly.

"Ah, Captain. More news on the alien sightings, I presume?" Admiral Thrawn inferred. "And what have our nomadic friends been up to recently?"

"It appears, Admiral that the aliens have been slowly advancing inward the sector. The latest sighting was confirmed by one of our sensor stations near the uninhabited planet of Rakata." Pellaeon frowned as he considered this.

"Your thoughts, Captain?" Thrawn inquired. "Admiral, I've reviewed the records of this system. During the Jedi Civil War, it was the site of a major battle between the Old Republic and the Sith Empire. More than that, it was the site of an ancient super weapon the Sith Empire salvaged from a long dead race. Is there any chance that these aliens have knowledge of that super weapon and are looking for it right now? And if so, for what purpose?"

Thrawn raised an eyebrow. "Very good, Captain. Those were my very first assumptions, too, once I noticed the direction of this species' ventures. However, I suspect that these...visitors...are simply an advance scouting party, quietly inspecting our defenses before they send the main body of their force in. Perhaps they are members from an outreaching empire from a distant galaxy? One of many questions we will have to ask them once we've made contact." Pellaeon nodded at the response, noting the conviction in the Grand Admiral's voice. "So what is our course of action, Admiral?" he asked carefully. Thrawn swiveled his seat, turning to face him. "I've already arranged a courier party to await the arrival of the alien scout ship near Lehon. If the aliens respond with hostility at our courier's presence, an attack force is standing nearby, ready to assist."

Thrawn keyed for the instrument panel in his command chair. Around them, a holograph of the Lehon system alighted, marking the orbit of Rakata Prime and its two moons. "Come, Captain. See the progress of the Planet Rakata. I always found it a shame that the Old Republic never managed to secure certain artifacts from that species' culture. It would have been a pleasure to incorporate them into my study." Thrawn's red eyes flashed at the thought. "We find ourselves with a conundrum, Captain. Given no previous knowledge of this alien species, we have no idea how their culture thinks. If we manage communications with them we are at risk of committing several cultural indignities in our negotiations. And if they don't accept communications with us and commence with an attack we have no way of predicting how they will react to our battle tactics."

Thrawn hid it well, the Captain thought. The Grand Admiral may not show it but Pellaeon was sure the apprehension was there. Normally, before Thrawn faced an opponent he would spend countless hours studying them, studying their species' art, divining the deepest mindsets his enemies have and drawing weaknesses there that he could exploit. This time, Thrawn had none of those resources to examine, nothing to give him an insight into this alien psyche to give him an advantage.

"Admiral, what role will the Chimaera be playing in this exploit?" Pellaeon had to ask. Thrawn hadn't mentioned yet whether they would just be watching the events unfold or if they would be taking an active part in the negotiations. Those glowing red eyes seemed to spark at the question. "Why Captain, we will be directing the reinforcement group in case our attempt at talks ends up in failure. But for now, we wait. Judging from the progress of our mysterious friends, it won't be in several hours before we make contact."

***

It happened like clockwork, as Thrawn's plans always were. At the precise moment when Thrawn predicted the alien species to appear the courier ship began to pick up gravity fluctuations somewhere by the sunside surface of Rakata Prime.

"Our shuttle is moving to intercept the alien scout ships now, Admiral. Escort frigates our moving to safeguard point around our courier ship," the communications officer announced. "Do we have visual, lieutenant?" Captain Pellaeon asked from beside the bridge command chair. "Yes, sir. Feed coming up…now." On three separate view screens, visual feeds from the courier ship and its two escort frigates were presented. On all three screens, the bridge crew watched as the scout ship drifted, almost lifeless, in space. Suddenly, like a heart being restarted with a defibrillator after suffering cardiac arrest, the alien scout ship jumped to life, energy readings being detected and relayed by the Imperial frigates.

"Courier ship is sending comm pings now, sir. Stand by for response." Silently, the bridge crew waited on bated breath. This might be their first contact with an unknown, and possibly powerful, alien race.

"Admiral, detecting more fluctuations behind that scoutship."

Onscreen, they watched as two more starships appeared from the ether. Unlike the scout ship, however, the two that just transitioned into normal space were much larger. The bodies of both ships assumed the shape of some exotic insect, with three bulbous growths located on the head and its dorsal side. They were both almost two kilometers in length, and approximately 900 meters in width. Their armor shone with a bright purple finish with black partings found in between the plates. Mounted on their black armor partings were weapon turrets.

Alien warships, Captain Pellaeon thought. There was no doubt about it.

"Is there any response to our hails, lieutenant?" Pellaeon asked. The comm officer checked his station before replying, "None, sir. We're hailing them again now –"

"Captain, detecting energy spike from alien ships. Weapon emplacements are now battle ready," the sensors officer noted. The two ships, which were lifeless in space just moments ago, were now moving for flanking positions beside the courier party.

Pellaeon eyed Admiral Thrawn sitting in the command chair. He was staring intently at the viewscreen, a strange glint in his eyes.

"Lieutenant, are the cloaked Interdictors in place?" he inquired. "Yes, Admiral," came the reply. "Very good. Tell the Interdictors' captains to activate their gravity well projectors. Send the order to the battle dreadnaughts to jump to hyperspace at the designated coordinates. For the frigates and courier ship, tell them to pull back and out of the enemy's flanking positions. Meanwhile, sound the alarm: all hands to battle stations."

As the bridge crew hastened to comply, Thrawn eyed Pellaeon with interest from the command chair. "It would seem, Captain, that our friends have no interest in making allies of us." "Did you expect this, Admiral?" Pellaeon asked. Thrawn looked back at the viewscreens, the image now being relayed showed how the alien assault ships were now caught in the middle of a triangle crossfire. "I anticipated the possibility." A strange expression passed before Thrawn's eyes, before being masked by the look of hidden menace. "Captain, you should be aware. Beyond this galaxy are a hundred different threats that endanger the existence of us all."

Pellaeon looked back at the screen. The enemy was now being systematically dismantled by Thrawn's attack force. Outnumbered three to one, with no room to maneuver our counterattack, the alien ships were slowly decimated by precise shots made by Thrawn's Katana-fleet dreadnaughts and two more Imperial Star Destroyers. "Prepare to jump to lightspeed, Captain and ready tractor beams. Spread the word that their scout ship is to be spared. I want prisoners to interrogate, if at all possible."