"What?!" Ackbar yelled in astonishment.
The hologram of admiral Kre'fey fizzled for a moment. The Bothan admiral paused, then spoke again:
"We have an Imperial II star destroyer missing, and we lost contact with Kessel and Almania." Kre'fey peacefully repeated. Ackbars huge eyes started rolling in their eyepits.
"We cannot afford to lose such firepower at this stage of the conflict with the Yuuzhan Vong, even now we barely fend them off." Ackbar rattled on, until something dawned to his mind.
"Thrawn?" he suspiciously asked.
"Perhaps. We arent sure yet." Kre'fey answered.
"Whoever it is, he managed to render a planet desolate. We musnt forget that." Ackbar said.
"A new super weapon?" Kre'fey suggested.
"Perhaps. Im not shure. Any news with the Vong?"
"We are delaying them for now, we were contacted by a defector a few days ago. She is being transported on Coruscant as we speak."
"What of Jag Fel and his squadrons?"
"They are on the front with the elements of the 4th and 5th Fleets." answered Kre'fey.

* * *

"How long before we exit hyperspace?" Cayel asked.
"Two minutes sir." the answer came from Gallear.
Cayel nodded silently. Finnaly, after six days, they were back. He could hear the doors opening. The doors of the Grand Admiral's quaters. He could see two points of light appeared on the reflection of the window. Grand Admiral Thrawn. He turned around to face the legend.
"Yes admiral?"
"Please come with me captain." Thrawn said and turned around to head for his quaters.
Cayel followed silently.

They entered the Grand Admiral's room, which was softly lighten as usual. The art display was replaced by a map of the galaxy. Thrawn walked to his seat, and said:
"Observe captain." he said dreadly, and flicked a switch. A large part of the galaxy,mostly around the core, was painted orange.
"This is the known territory of the Rebels. They have lost a good portion of their former strenght." Thrawn explained, and flicked another switch. The part of the map closest to the Unknown Regions was painted with blue color.
"This is the territory of the Imperial Remnant. The remains from my previous campaign. This part of the Empire has shrunk in size trough ages, and is now down to barely a few hundred systems." he explained again, and flicked another switch. A tight part was painted in red.
"This is the territory of the Yuuzhan Vong. I belive I dont need to explain more about them." he said with a flare in his eyes. With another flick, a part of the galaxy, containing Almania, Iridonia, and Kessel, was painted in gold.
"This is our territory. We are endangered from both the Rebels, and the Vong, who are currently busy fighting between them so they havent really acknownledged our existance. The Rebels are searching for more proof of my identity, and the Vong dont know who to blame for Belkadan, so they blame the rebels. The time has came that we teach them a lesson not to underestimate the Empire." Thrawn finished.
"Yes admiral?" Cayel asked. Thrawn flicked another switch. The display zoomed in on one of the planets. Agamar.
"Agamar?" Cayel asked. The world had no real strategic value to the Empire.
"Yes, Agamar. Captain, we have been given a chance for an extremly interesting tactical practice. The Yuuzhan Vong are sending almost all they have to the front." Thrawn paused, waiting for questions from Cayel.
"Wouldnt it be better if we concentrated on aquiring more ships?" Cayel asked.
"It could help us, but in the long run, it would harm us. What we need is material for our shipyards at Almania." Thrawn answered.
"Building a single Star Destroyer at this stage would drain our resourses completly." Cayel continued to argue. Thrawn merely smiled.
"True captain. At this stage, no. That is the reason of the Empire's newest project. 'Shadowfox'." Thrawn flicked a switch, and the entire display was replaced by the schematics of some ship.
"Admiral?" Cayel was confused. Why wasnt he notifyed of this?
"Operation 'Shadowfox'. A single Shadowfox-class carrier can carry more TIE squadrons then two Star Destroyers. This, is 'Shadowfox' captain. Right now, on Iridonia, four hundred clones of major Kowes I comissioned are almost finished. They will be here by the end of the day. Now, imagine this carrier, carrying four hundred TIE Interceptors piloted by major Kowes himself." Thrawn smiled with satisfication. Cayel shuddered.
"But, how can such a small carrier carry that many TIE's?"
"Its pretty simple captain. The carrier is a big shielded box with ion thrusters attached."
"It has no weapons itself?" Cayel asked.
"A couple of quad lasers. But with the adequate escort, it can devastate a fleet of impressive size with ease. As you know, the turbolaser placement on Star Destroyers is easily evaded by starfighters, as it was proven in the Galactic Civil War." Thrawn smiled.
"So, what do we need to begin construction?" Cayel asked.
"Hmm. The material needed is equal to the material needed to build a Dreadnought." Thrawn brushed his chin in anticipation.
"Then sir, may I recommend that we start the aquiry of the materials as soon as possible?" Cayel said.
"I will reveal to you how seriously have I taken your proposal. Admiral Torroro will be exiting hyperspace on Bespin in about an hour." Thrawn smiled. Before Cayel could continue, the comlink beeped, and Thrawn's hand automaticaly flicked the switch.
"Admiral, we are exiting hyperspace. Everything seems in order. Frigate 'Ariel' is hailing us." the comm crackled.
"Scan the area, hail the 'Ariel'." Thrawn answered.

"This is the Assault Frigate 'Ariel' of the Second Imperium, welcome back sir." the voice crackled over the comlink with the usual I-love-Thrawn tone. Thrawn raised an eyebrow and smiled.
"Any news?" Cayel boomed over the comlink.
"Yes sir. Aside from the shipment of clones from Iridonia we are expecting, our long range sensors have been picking up some strange scans."
"Good. I expect a full report on this when captain Degtir comes aboard the 'Reaper'." Thrawn interrupted and closed connection.
"Admiral?" Cayel asked.
"If those scans are coming from the galactic parimeter, we are going to have guests soon." Thrawn said grimly.
Cayel shuddered. Three star destroyers, fifteen minor starships, against a full invasion fleet. No. That cant be true. He rubbed his temple, this... this... Thrawn effect was epidemic.
"Yes captain. It seems Shadowfox will be a vital factor. Please call lieutenant Gallear in."

The doors to the Grand Admiral's quaters opened with a supressed hiss, revealing a softly lighted room dominated by a copy of the admiral's chair from the bridge, which was surrounded by various samples of art, everything seemed as usual, except for the grav panel in front of the chair supporting a dead body of a Yuuzhan Vong warrior. This one styling a searing gap in his abdomen, possibly from a lightsaber. Lieutenant Gallear stood up to his full height, of a meter and eighty cetimeters, straightened his uniform and took a step forward. He neared the command chair, his boots clomping on the spotless floor, saluting when he came infront of the command chair. The chair turned away from the body, revealing Grand Admiral Thrawn with his gloved fingers pressed against each other at the top, in his usual thinking position, his glowing red eyes were red slits of light.
"Lieutenant Gallear reporting for duty as requested sir!" Gallear boomed and saluted.
"At ease lieutenant. You have been summoned here because you have been watched lately. You have been watched very closely. Your service to the Second Imperium is extraordinary. You passed the wargame tournament, which would give headache's to many proven tacticians." Thrawn started.
"Thank you sir, I try my best." Gallear responded, his knees started trembling from the excitement.
"The traditional reward for a job well done is another job. Therefore, you will take control of the Carrack-class cruiser 'Corolev', which will serve as support to the 82nd Dragonfire squadron in their mission at the Rim." Thrawn concluded.
"Thank you sir, I wont fail you." Gallear responded.
"I have no doubt lieutenant." Was that a start of a smile forming on Thrawn's lips? How many officers did Thrawn watch at this stage in their career, recieving command over their first ship? Gallear questioned himself as the doors closed behind him with a vile hiss.