Chapter 7
The high counsel of the Chiss Ascendancy was less than pleased at Thrawn's report. Not only had he failed to aquire the ally they needed and hoped for in the Empire, now the Yuuzhan Vong were approaching their borders and they had no help. The Chiss defense force would be outmatched and would require the best minds to help them survive. But the Force, as they would soon discover, would become their best hope and ally yet.
The armies of the Chiss were growing. There defense fleet had doubled in the few months after Thrawn had arrived. He had been given his own command as rank of admiral. He commanded the fifth fleet. His mate, admiral Ar'alani commanded the second fleet. Captain Bridger and his droid- manned super cruiser, the Dravec Dume, joined the second fleet with two other ships made up of elite fighters, ground and space combat fighters. The first and second fleets were patrolling the outer edges of Chiss space while the fifth thru seventh maintained the inner core of the ascendancy. Ezra would run reconnaissance missions and report back to admiral Ar'alani. He hoped his Jedi senses would help alert him of the Yuuzhan Vong. He waited on a chance to study them. The fact that they hadn't attacked yet made many in the ascendancy to think they were watching and planning, and that an attack would be eminent.
Deep in meditation one evening, Ezra reached out with the Force. He could feel the terror, the pain and death but could not see the cause. He searched every ebb of the Force until exhausted. He was about to give up when he heard his master's voice say, " keep searching Ezra, you'll find what you are looking for. May the Force be with you….." concentrating on the pain and terror instead of the source he realized what he was feeling was the evidence of the enemy, that they were attacking someone…..
Ezra ran as fast as he could to the bridge. Eli looked at him with worry when he burst into the room. "Navigator, where is the nearest habitable planet?" Eli answered before the droid could, "It is here, on the chart, just outside this system. Why do you ask?" " I believe that planet to be under attack" said Bridger, "set a course and notify admiral Ar'alani." "We shouldn't just rush in captain Bridger, " said Vanto, "We could jump in, scan them, then jump right back out to here. If the Vong are there in great numbers we'll need help. If not…." "We attack immediately. " said Ezra.
The jump only took a minute. The Dravec Dume appeared over the planet Nireth and saw three Yuuzhan Vong warships in orbit. Scans indicated ground troops were fighting in the cities below. The Dravec Dume jumped back into hyperspace and Ezra made a plan. Without having any time to relay to the others he had the comm droid send a message to the second fleet to attack on the ground when they arrived. They exited hyperspace and Ezra told the helm to jump back in and arrive between the three warships and the planet. They did and the Vong were caught off guard. The Dravec Dume appeared between the ships and the planet with all batteries firing. The first ship exploded, the second ship was quickly disabled and losing altitude. The third ship however got off a few shots of its own. The Dravec Dume out maneuvered it to a nearby moon. "Helm take us as close to the surface as you can" Ezra said. As they skimmed the surface, dodging blaster fire, Ezra reached out with the Force and started plucking the boulders from the ground behind them. The Vong ship couldn't maneuver through the debris rising up behind the Dravec Dume and succumbed to the damage and plummeted into the moon.
Meanwhile the second fleet had arrived and began sending down ground troops. Admiral Ar'alani contacted Ezra to return to the battle above the planet. Two Yuuzhan Vong ships arrived out of hyperspace and opened fire on the second fleet. Their small fighters pouring out of the larger ships seemed to resemble a swarm of insects.
Ezra 's ship arrived at the battle as the first wave of fighters fired upon the Gloryfang. "Deflector shields, fire ion cannons at the swarm" said Bridger, "fire everything else at the closest Vong ship. " The ion cannons disabled many of the swarming fighters and the big guns hit their marks. It appeared to Ezra that the Yuuzhan Vong weren't much of a match for the Chiss defense fleet in space but ground communications suggested the Chiss were being overrun. Admiral Ar'alani was sending a message to the fifth fleet for assistance when 6 more Vong ships arrived. Opening fire on the admirals ship, the Vong surrounded the second fleet. Ar'alani's ship began to list and drift downward, losing altitude and defectors.
Ezra needed to do something quick. He reached out with the Force and called on the Purrgil. He could sense their hesitancy and tried to encourage them to respond. He shifted his senses to the Vong ships. While he could not sense the Vong themselves he could see the biological parts of their ships. He reached out to touch the ships, there was no sentient will but he willed chaos to the living parts. This disrupted the Vong vessels enough to cause two of them to collide and burst open. Two of the ships stopped firing and one began to fire wildly at everything. One ship vanished into hyperspace taking out one Vong ship and one Chiss ship in a blaze of brilliant light.
The fifth fleet arrived and admiral Thrawn contacted the Gloryfang which was descending to the surface. "Admiral Ar'alani I am sending down 20 troop carriers to assist you". "Admiral Thrawn", Ar'alani said, "we have lost our ability to remain in orbit but have 80 percent helm and thruster controls. We will touchdown on the western flank of the heaviest fighting and join our ground troops there. Have your troops ready to assist us. " "I understand, " said Thrawn, " I will take command of the entire operation from here. Report to me when you engage the enemy. "
Half a dozen of the Purrgil arrived and attacked the disabled Vong ships then vanished. The Chiss Ascendancy's fifth fleet opened fire on the Vong and were well on their way to obliterating them when Ezra felt a call from the Force on the planet below. "Helm, plot a course to the surface, " he said, " north of the fighting. Advise admiral Thrawn that we're joining the fight. " "Captain Bridger, " said Thrawn, "Your assistance is appreciated. The ground troops are in need of air cover. Contact admiral Ar'alani and coordinate with her. " "Admiral, " said Bridger, " I feel something, in the Force, from the north. We're going there but will fly over admiral Ar'alani enroute. " "Understood master Jedi, " said Thrawn, "I trust your use of the Force, but do check in on my mate please. Report to me what you find at both locations."
The Dravec Dume arrived over admiral Ar'alani's ship. The Yuuzhan Vong were a half kilometer away in a surrounding pattern. The Chiss seemed pinned down as heavy blaster fire from the Vong inched closer. In many areas inside the perimeter hand to hand combat had ensued. Ezra ordered the batteries to fire on the Vong who then retreated toward the north. This allowed the dug in troops to return inside the perimeter and attack the Vong there from behind. Captain Bridger contacted admiral Ar'alani to let her know he was pursuing the Vong to the north. The admiral's second in command, commander Ma'tithrow advised that the admiral had been captured, along with about a dozen troops, and was taken away by the enemy in the retreat to the north. Ezra turned his ship north and followed the direction of the Vong. He searched for them thru the Force but could not detect them. He felt for admiral Ar'alani and could barely detect her toward the northern mountains. He had the helms-droid set a course and contacted Thrawn.
It was strange that he could feel a pull from the Force but could not detect the Vong. It was like they were completely closed off. But what he sensed was pulling at him. Could there be an ancient Jedi or Sith temple here? One thing was for sure. He was about to find out.
