Seni felt as if she had just gotten to sleep when there was a touch on her shoulder. Her eyes flew open to find a pair of glowing red eyes above her. "Thrawn?"

"Yes. I am sorry to wake you like this, but strange ships have shown up where we place the gravfield and I thought you might wish to come along to see it in action."

"Of course. I'm sure my brother would like to join as well."

"You may invite him. Meet me at the Springhawk in thirty minutes."

She got up and dressed after he left and walked to Jorj's room. She knocked on his door. "Jorj? You up?"

Jorj poked his head out groggily. "I am now. What's up?"

"The Commander said there are strange ships in their territory and he was wondering if you wanted to come along."

"I guess I have to if you are."

She rolled her eyes. "Would you stop being so paranoid? You don't have to keep an eye on me, but after you made such a fit last time I thought you would want to join us."

"Fair point. Let's go."

She sighed and waited for him to change before they headed to the ship together where Thrawn was waiting.

"Our destination is four hours away. During that time, I think it would be prudent for you two to have combat armor fitted to your anatomy. I will take you to the armorer." Thrawn beckoned and they follow him down some hall ways. "Try not to fidget, it makes the process take longer."

"Longer?"

"Yes, so resist the urge." Thrawn left them with the armorer.

Jorj sighed. "Is this really necessary?"

"Considering the last outing, no." Seni stood still as she was measured.

"And I had to complain, therefore ended up potentially getting in the same situation." Jorj's nose wrinkled. "Remind me next time that I like living."

"I cannot promise that will work." She replied dryly. She was the first one done three hours later and joined Thrawn on the bridge, wearing her combat suit.

"Your brother coming?"

"He's almost done."

Thrawn eyed her appraisingly. "Then we will wait. The armor looks good on you."

"I held as still as a statue."

He smiled faintly as Jorj came in. "We're all here, good. Let's have a look at who has strayed into Chiss territory."

The Springhawk pulled out of hyperspace and just off the starboard bow was a cluster of ships that made both siblings feel like they had been frozen to the spot.

"Are those...?"

"Trade Federation ships? Yes."

"Trade Federation? The same ones you mentioned that blockaded a fellow Republic planet?"

Seni nodded, ignoring Jorj's expression.

"And how did they get away with such actions when they are part of the Republic?"

"No one knows for sure. There's a lot of speculation on the matter." Jorj sighed. "But what are they doing out here with those ships that carry thousands of droid fighters and carriers?"

"Let us find out. This Trade Federation speaks Basic, do they not?"

"Of course, why?"

"Because I wish to gauge their response to being spoken to in a language only they should know." He cleared his throat when his communication officer announced he had connected them to the Trade Federation. "Attention trespassers: I am Commander Mitth'raw'nuruodo, representing the Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet. If you do not respond with identification and telling me what you are doing in my territory, I will disable your ships and take you prisoner."

"What is he doing?!" Jorj hissed under his breath.

Seni smiled faintly. "He's baiting the Beast with the Vizier."

"What?"

"It's a move from shah-tezh that allows you to test your opponent, but gives you the advantage if they are provoked."

"If?! The advantage?!"

She sighed. "Would you calm down? You're going to attract attention."

"I'm not the one sharing information on the Republic left and right."

"The Commander doesn't have to share anything with us. Technically he could be arrested if his superiors found out how much he has let us learn. Now listen, it's bad enough that the Trade Federation showed up after we did, but you freaking out isn't making it better."

"You know, it's stuff like this that makes people think you're older than me." He huffed.

She chuckled softly. "It's not my fault Sephi are naturally wise. Now hush, sounds like they're responding."

A male human voice came across the comm: "I apologize for the delay, Commander Mitth'raw'nuruodo. My name is Commander Stratis of Special Task Force One. Unfortunately, I cannot divulge the details of our mission as I am under orders, but I can assure you we are not invading your territory, despite appearances."

Thrawn made a gesture to the comm officer and looked at Seni and Jorj when it was muted. "Your thoughts?"

"Stratis is not his real name. That's an old smuggler word for atmosphere."

"An interesting bit of information, Jorj. Seni?"

"I am wary to trust him. He sounds human, but the Neimoidians are definitely the ones really in charge."

"And what are these Neimoidians like?"

"Smug and short tempered." Jorj supplied after some thought.

"So I gathered from the design of their ships. Anything else?"

"They're very proud of their droid forces."

Thrawn nodded to Seni before turning to his comm officer. "Connect me again. Commander Stratis, I fail to see why you think I would believe your claims when your ships are armed and carry what I can only assume is an army."

"Our forces are not-"

"Why are you wasting our time with these primitives, Stratis?!" Another voice cut in angrily. "They are in our way and we have a mission to complete!"

"With all due respect, Vicelord-"

"Save the flattery! These primitives aren't backing off! Cut the connection and release the fighter droids!"

"Well that escalated quickly." Jorj sighed.

"I expected as much." Thrawn replied coolly. "I demanded answers they had no intention of giving. Are these droids able to function on their own or do they require control?"

Both siblings shook their heads to show they had no idea.

"No matter. Comm, see if you can identify an encryption code. Helm, pull us back and we will test their flight range." Thrawn pressed the tips of his long fingers together as the fighters pulled back to the larger ones that had formed a defensive wall between the Trade Federation and them after some back and forth, the Springhawk backing away farther every time. "As I suspected, they are short range and remote controlled. Do you have a pattern?"

"Yes sir, looks like we're passed their maximum control range and the code changes every cycle."

"Can you tap into it?"

"I should know in a few minutes, sir."

Thrawn nodded. "Let's buy some time then. After all, technology has it's limits even when the makers refuse to think so. Skirt along the border of their range and see if they take the bait."

Some of the fighters came after them as the Springhawk got barely in range and the comm officer announced he was in. They let the Neimoidians think that they were still in control as they danced back and forth for a while. When there was an opening in the ranks, the fighters got an order they expected and executed it even though it wasn't from their makers.

"Amazing." Jorj managed as the fighters flew passed them at full speed. "No one has ever been able to fo that before."

"It is quite easy to see a pattern in the limited coding used in fully automated droids and figure out what sequence would be accepted and make the command louder than the Trade Federation." Thrawn paused for a moment. "Let's move forward and get more out of their control."

The Springhawk moved more into their control zone, making more fighters useless to their makers without even using weapons. The fighters tried to stay out of range, but it was hard to do that and fire on them at the same time.

More fighters tried to flank the Springhawk and they deployed shock nets, which took out all of the ones closest to them. The Trade Federation sent out everything they had in response, clearly hoping sheer numbers would deter their ability to disable their ships.

"Release the Councilor." Thrawn ordered.

All the Federation fighters suddenly were floating dead in the vacuum of space and the Springhawk made it's way passed most of them and fully disabled the fighters that the Federation managed to reactivate.

"Did you just...jam the entire area? That's supposed to be impossible to do to Trade Federation tech." Jorj gaped.

"As I told you before, I chose each of my crew and gave them their positions because of their talents to best serve the Ascendancy. Not only did my comm officer manage to tap into their commands and give out codes that made the tech useless to their makers, but he also knew that we would require a way to incapacitate multiple ships on a larger scale without me ordering him to find one. The Trade Federation thought to overpower us, when actually we were ready to do this for quite some time."

"We have been targeted by their missiles, Commander."

"Evasive action. Prepare to fire shock nets on my command."

The Springhawk weaved through the unresponsive fighters and when they were near some that had been activated, Thrawn gave the order and took out both the fighters and the missiles at the same time.

"We have found the weak spot on these vessels, Commander." One of the other warriors reported, pointing to an enlarged image.

"Wait until they are powering their weapons, then target it."

"Yes, sir."

There was a big explosion as several were destroyed that way, followed by as the dormant ships began to self-destruct around them and the Springhawk evaded more missiles till the Federation was out of ammo and they flew up to the main ships as they found they couldn't jump to hyperspace, another shock net aimed at them.

"They are disarming their weapons and deactivating their remaining fighters, Commander."

"Prepare to board their ship. Jorj and Seni, you are with me."

"Yes, Commander." Jorj replied quickly.

Seni waited till they were out of earshot of the other warriors before she said: "It's a good thing you have that artificial gravitational field."

"Indeed. They stopped right where I had had placed it and didn't notice till they tried to make the jump. Will they recognize you as being from the Republic?"

"Not likely. Neimoidians only pay attention to themselves and their tech. They're well known for saying everyone else looks the same. Why do you ask?"

"Because I think it would be better if they think you two are my slaves instead of guests. Walk behind me and keep your heads down."

They nodded slowly and followed him aboard the Trade Federation's main ship where one Neimoidian and a human waited, the Neimoidian looking annoyed and very unhappy.

"Commander Stratis, I presume?" Thrawn asked pointedly to the human.

"Correct, Commander Mitth'raw'nuruodo." The man replied. "This is Vicelord Kav of the Trade Federation who is actually in command of this vessel. I am merely the representative for what was the Task Force."

"Just because it's been destroyed doesn't allow you to speak, Stratis! Thanks to these aliens, all our hard work is destroyed and we should make them pay for what they have done!"

"Vicelord, it is only because you jumped the gun instead of listening to me."

"How dare you take that tone with me! I am the one in charge!"

Thrawn cleared his throat politely. "Actually, I captured your ship Vicelord and now I am in charge. Now, would one of you be kind enough to tell me what you are doing in my territory?"