After 2 days in hyperspace the Chimaera finally reached the primary system in the Farfin sector, Derilliem III. Pellaeon has the habit of always being awake when the ship exits hyperspace; he finds it very unsettling to let any junior officer be in command if they just happen to stumble upon a Republic fleet. Pellaeon woke up just minutes before they reached their destination and immediately went to the bridge. He also always finds himself standing at the front staring out the same window, the second windows left of the middle one. He ordered a scan of the system to see if any ships were in the area.
"Yes sir, it will take about 10 to 15 minutes to finish sir." One of the Ensigns of the pit crew said.
Pellaeon didn't hear Thrawn enter the bridge, but instead noticed his reflection in the view port.
"We have begun a sensor sweep of the system," Pellaeon said turning to face his superior.
"Very good." Thrawn said taking a seat at his command chair. Pellaeon took a deep breath, he had been upset ever since Thrawn had lied to him, but Thrawn insisted that it was on good terms, and Pellaeon knew if he didn't finish it, they would be very un-able to work together.
"Sir I want to apologize for my recent behavior, I have not been myself lately." Pellaeon said, feeling embarrassed to admit is fault.
"I completely understand Captain, your apology is accepted." Thrawn said a slight smile on his face.
"Sir's, the scan is not complete but we have detected a Super Class Star Destroyer in orbit of Derilliem V, there are no other ships near it." The same Ensign as before said.
"Set a course for intercept, maximum sublight speed," Thrawn said, now heading towards the Communications station, " And you, contact them immediately, find out whose in command over there."
"Sir I'm pretty sure that Veers is with them, this scan shows that ship to match his flagship the Violator." Pellaeon said following behind Thrawn closely.
"Yes I'm sure you are correct, but then again that is a command ship. It is most unusual to find it alone, without a fleet." Thrawn said.
Pellaeon agreed, a formidable commander would never send a ship like that anywhere alone. They have poor maneuvering abilities and slow targeting speeds. Normally it wise to have 2 regular capital ships flank a command ship, and then force the target ships into the targeting direction of the command vessel. Also to have support against high maneuvering vessels. A good leader can take on a lone Super Star Destroyer with 3 medium class Capital ships, like Mon Calamari Cruisers. Pellaeon had seen it done once before on his first assignment as Captain on the Chimaera. They had been ordered to escort a recently completed Super Star Destroyer away from the Orbital Construction site and bring it to Coruscant. They had just exited hyperspace and were on their way to the ship. They were still 10 minutes away when 3 Rebel Mon Calamari Cruisers exited Hyperspace on the far side of their current course. The Captain of the Super Star Destroyer was advised by Pellaeon not to in-gage the Attacking Rebels, but to instead remain within the Turbo laser Fire from the Orbital Platform. The Captain Refused, wishing for a maiden voyage victory. He Left the Protection of the Orbiting docks and engaged the 3 Rebel ships. He obviously didn't realize the maneuverability of the Cruisers and was unable to harm them with his ship's Turbo lasers. The Rebels Destroyed the Super Star Destroyers Main Hyperspace engines and its sublight power Facility, completely disabling it before the escort ships were able to ward off the Attacking vessels. The Captain of the Super Star Destroyer was later executed by Lord Vader for his ignorance, and the ship was delayed 4 months for repairs. The ship would have been at the Battle of Endor had that foolish Captain not been so stupid. Pellaeon wondered what the turnout of the battle would have been like had it been there. But the Captain Probably would have tried sending it down the ventilation shaft of the Death Star to chaise down the Rebel fighters, considering how dumb he was.
Pellaeon let out a quiet chuckle thinking about it.
"What's so funny Captain?" Thrawn asked, confused as to what Pellaeon found humorous.
"Oh it's nothing sir, just a random thought." Pellaeon said.
"Sir, I have an open Comm. link with the Super Star Destroyer." The Communications officer said.
"Good put it through." Thrawn said.
"This is Admiral Veers, Commander of the Super Star Destroyer Violator, and leader of the Farfin sector Imperial Navy. With whom am I speaking with?" Veers said.
Thrawn smiled deeply, giving a quick glance to Pellaeon before responding.
"I am Grand Admiral Thrawn, Supreme High Commander of the Unknown Sector and In charge of the Yarstoss Imperial Fleet." Thrawn said, bulking his chest outward, Pellaeon wondered was Thrawn mocking Veers?
"Good to meet you Grand Admiral Thrawn. What business do you have here in the Farfin sector?" Veers questioned, obviously displeased with Thrawns presence.
"I wish to invite you aboard my Ship, to discuss future plans for the Empire, will you accept?" Thrawn asked.
"I shall, I will make arrangements to board your vessel at 19:30 hours, Veers out" Veers said with a quick jab off screen he cut the transmission.
"I don't think he is happy to see us sir" Pellaeon said.
"Yes I know, ha ha ha, did you see the way he presented himself? Like he was the Emperor or something." Thrawn said laughing under his words.
"Yes, it was most annoying, I did however like the way you responded." Pellaeon commented.
"Oh thank you, it was the only thing I could said without bursting out with laughter." Thrawn said.
"One thing though, the Yarstoss fleet?" Pellaeon asked.
"Oh well I had to make up something didn't I?" Thrawn said, now walking off the bridge. Pellaeon followed.
"So what now?" Pellaeon asked.
"Well I suppose we will have dinner, and discuss our plans." Thrawn said.
"What are our plans sir?" Pellaeon asked gingerly.
"Well, that remains to be seen, if he "plans" to join us, then that will be our plan, if he doesn't "plan" to join us, then we must "plan" to get him out of our way." Thrawn said.
They went down the corridor towards the Guest Conference room, the room where diplomats would have dinner during discussions; it seemed the viable place for the meeting that would be taking place.
Later that evening at 19:30 hours, almost 4 and a half hours since they talked with Veers his shuttle arrived in the Landing bay of the Chimaera. Thrawn decided to prevent Veers from being a rude little prick, he would have 2 rows of Storm Troopers Form up for Veers arrival. The shuttle entered the landing bay and hissed as it set down. The shuttle was completely clean, from top to bottom, not a scratch on it, as if it had been polished just before it disembarked. Thrawn half expected another Self Priding introduction from Veers but was disappointed to a regularly dressed admiral.
"Welcome Admiral." Thrawn said to Veers. Pellaeon
leaned over and whispered to Thrawn.
"You do realize he promoted himself, he is actually a General." Pellaeon
said as quietly as he could, so that Veers did not here.
"Yes I am full aware Captain." Thrawn said with a smile.
"Thank you for having me Grand Admiral." Veers said.
4 storm troopers dressed in bodyguard uniforms followed behind Veers. Obviously he didn't fully trust Thrawn or his intentions.
"This way please" Thrawn said extending his arm towards the exit of the shuttle bay.
"Station 2 more Troopers outside the shuttle" Veers said to one of his bodyguards as they left the Shuttle bay. Pellaeon caught a glance of the bodyguard saying something into a Comm. link.
They walked for a few minutes before finally reaching the Conference room, where 4 waiter droids were servicing the Department heads of the Chimaera, and the on board Ground Forces Commander, Covell. Thrawn and Pellaeon were the first to enter and they took their seats. Veers followed behind and then suddenly stopped dead in his tracks.
"Fredrick!? " Veers said, looking directly at Covell.
"Max!!" Covell said, jumping out of his seat to greet Veers. They hugged, and shook hands. Thrawn looked at them with surprise and awe, as did Pellaeon.
"How have you been, I haven't seen you since, damn, since the Battle of Hoth." Covell said, smiling hopelessly.
"Yes I guess it was that long ago wasn't it?" Veers said also smiling.
"I thought you were on the Executor?" Covell asked.
"I was, but I jumped ship once I heard how bad the Damage was, and well managed to survive." Veers said, almost laughing now.
"Man o man, it's been way too long, it's really good to see you again Max." Covell said as he took a seat next to Veers.
"Well, that was interesting, I wasn't aware you knew each other." Thrawn said, almost displeased by the knowledge.
"Yeah I was taught by Max here, and I was at his side during the operations on Hoth. I was later reassigned to the Chimaera, and thought that because he was General of the Executor, that well, when it went down, I just assumed." Covell said looking at Veers.
"Well yes, I managed to survive, and found myself in command of a few scattered remnants." Veers said.
"How did you manage to find yourself a Super Star Destroyer?" Covell asked.
Thrawn was becoming agitated, this was going nowhere, two friends reminiscing, and asking questions that didn't need to be answered, at least not anymore, not the Thrawn.
"Well about 2 months after the Battle of Endor, I decided to start checking up on some of the old Construction Yards, and most were either destroyed by the Rebels or under their control. I Did how ever stumble upon one, out in the Dolomar sector, it was deserted, and all the ships were gone, except for one, an uncompleted Super Star Destroyer, so I brought all my men there and we worked for about 3 months working on finishing it. We received word that the Rebels had learned about our little operation and were planning an attack, so we got all the primary systems online and left, we had a small engagement before we escaped, and after which we basically improvised the uncompleted sections, like the starboard and port Ion Cannon Generators, they were left out and in turn we replaced the section with some more Maneuvering Thrusters. I tell you, the Violator is one powerful ship, it has its weaknesses though…" Veers said, stopping suddenly and looking up at Thrawn, who was paying close attention to every detail said. "But yes, that's not to topic tonight. I actually don't even know what the topic is, Grand Admiral?" Veers asked.
" Ah yes, well, where to begin. Veers, do you know who I am?" Thrawn asked.
"Well, a Grand Admiral, sir." Veers said with much confusion in his voice.
"No, I mean, have you ever heard of me before today?" Thrawn asked.
"Well to be honest, no, in fact I'm still uncertain of your title, I was under the impression that the Emperor did not approve of non-humans." Veers said, his voice implied that he also, was not fond of non-humans as he so colorfully put it.
"Well then I suppose ill fill you in." Thrawn said with a large gleaming smile on his face, his eyes bored into Veers, glowing and motionless.
"I have spent most of my career in the Unknown Sectors, my countless victories there earned me the right to wear this White Uniform. I became the 13th grand admiral to serve the Emperor. Just before the Battle of Endor I was sent on a rather long Mission to the Unknown Sector, again. The nature of that mission is not important, but required my long stay. I have served with Vader, who I hear you served with as well. I earned his trust and The Emperors. Now that I have returned I plan to destroy the Rebels, once and for all, but before I do that, I require a larger fleet, and well, frankly, I require your help." Thrawn said. Veers sat there, searching his memory for any mention of Thrawns name from Vader.
"Well that is most honorable Admiral, but I don't think at this time my interest require me joining up with any other Leaders right now." Veers said.
Pellaeon sat back, this was not good, he was unwilling to join, Thrawn was not going to be pleased, he looked over at Thrawn, who was now slightly frowning.
"I don't think you see it correctly, Veers, I am a superior officer, and I require your loyalty." Thrawn said. It seemed as if his eyes were glowing ever brighter now.
"I don't really give a shit who the hell you are, you could be the Emperor himself, I still wouldn't care, I am not about to allow anyone to command over me." Veers said, rage filling his voice.
Pellaeon was dumbfounded, such rudeness towards Thrawn, foul language and everything. This was certainly not turning out as Thrawn had planned, or was it? Thrawn didn't seem to be asking or proposing in the nicest of ways, maybe he wanted Veers to be an enemy, perhaps to convince Veers crew to see Veers as some kind of tyrant.
"Interesting, you are rather rude Veers, and I believe you have overstayed your welcome." Thrawn said standing up. Veers stood up next and then everyone else followed inline. Covell was shocked as hell, a look of fear in his eyes, and the rest of the department heads were just looking rather pissed at Veers.
"You have just made a big mistake Thrawn, we will not tolerate such behavior, not from some alien scum like you " Veers said, and with that stormed out of the room, his bodyguards following behind. Thrawn left the room as well, now heading towards the bridge, Pellaeon followed.
"This is going to be most interesting." Thrawn said, walking at an increased pace towards the lift.
"I wouldn't have chosen those exact words, but yes I agree" Pellaeon said, as they boarded the Turbo lift, Pellaeon saw Covell standing outside the Conference room, confused.
This was really bad; Pellaeon was still trying to figure out what exactly just happened, Veers, calling Thrawn "alien Scum". Where the hell did he get off saying that to him? And why? They reached the bridge and Thrawn quickly took a seat at his command chair, he scanned the readouts with his eyes.
"His shuttle is just leaving now, good." Thrawn said, a large smile growing on his face. Pellaeon was looking out the view port at the Violator, a huge ship, 5 times the length of the Chimaera. It was turning, turning towards them. Pellaeon as sure they were powering their systems and preparing an attack.
"Sir, they are preparing to attack." Pellaeon said to Thrawn who was entering coordinates into his Tactical Readout.
"Yes, I know, excuse me Captain, " Thrawn said as he turned on his Comm. link, "Fire control, I want you to fire 3 Turbo laser shots at that shuttle, I want one to hit each wing and set it for 25% power, I don't want it destroyed, you understand?" Thrawn ordered.
"Sir, yes sir." The voice came back.
Thrawn stood up and walked over to the window and looked out at Veers's shuttle, which was getting further away.
"Sir don't you think we should go to battle stations?" Pellaeon asked.
"Not yet, wait till we have fired, when we go to battle stations the computers automatically set the Turbo lasers to full power." Thrawn said.
Outside there was a quick flash as 3 shots from the front of the Chimaera chased towards the shuttle. And just like ordered, one hit each wing.
"Ha ha ha, yes!" Thrawns aid, laughing.
"I don't understand, it didn't do any damage." Pellaeon said.
"Captain, I have been studying The art work from Veer's home world Nal Hutta, as you know, and well I have reached a few conclusions, one, they have attitudes worse than a Rancor with Heartburn, that is why he was so rude. Second, they love to present themselves well, that shuttle is cleaner than a brand new Ship. He takes care of it, wants it to look it's best. And that's why I fired one low powered shot at each wing, it scorched the metal, and will never look that good ever again. Third, he is a ground forces General, I highly doubt he will be ready for my Tactics." Thrawn said, " Battle stations, I want all sections on high alert, get the pilots to their fighters!!"
Pellaeon looked down at his display and zoomed in on Veers's shuttle. And just as Thrawn said, the blast marks were imbedded deep into the shuttles hull. Pellaeon let out a quick single laugh.
"Very good sir, but do you really think that we can take on that ship?" Pellaeon asked.
"No, but I don't think they're going to fight for very long, I did a little research on his ship, I scanned that thing over and over again, at first I thought it was a glitch, but I found out I was right, it has practically no fighter defense." Thrawn said.
" What? Really? No laser batteries huh?" Pellaeon asked, looking out at the Violator, now almost completely turned towards them. The thing was slightly faster than most Super Star Destroyers, but still sluggish. This was going to be a damaging battle; it only takes 4 direct hits from a Super Star Destroyer to bring the Chimaera's shields down the 50%.
"I want all fighters launched, divide them into 2 groups, Alpha, Beta, Delta and Gamma squadrons are now the Sigma Squadron. And Tau, Nu, Mu squadrons are now known as the Omega Squadron. Send Sigma far Starboard and Omega far port, come around at point 2.8.0 and ourselves, I want attack pattern Delta." Thrawn ordered.
Pellaeon wasn't sure if this was a battle they could win. Pellaeon looked down and saw that the violator had still not launched any fighters, but was still turning towards them. Then suddenly it stopped turning. He no longer saw Veers's shuttle on his scopes, it must have already landed. And out of nowhere, the Violator Jumped into Hyperspace.
"What!!??" Pellaeon yelped.
Thrawn looked out at the small trial of debris that followed the jump path of the Violator.
"What a fool, he didn't wait until all the garbage was out of the ships holding bin before jumping, we can now track his jump path." Thrawn said.
"Order our fighter back in" Pellaeon said to the Deck Officer.
"So what? We follow?" Pellaeon asked.
"Yes, but first we must contact the Star Destroyers Annihilator and the Avenger, plus my interdictor cruiser Judicator." Thrawn said, watched the floating debris," It's not over yet, he won't get away that easily."
Pellaeon watched as the TIE fighters disappeared under the hull of the ship. Thrawn stood there staring out into space, the planet Derilliem V floated next to them. Thrawn turned and left the bridge, Pellaeon decided not to follow, Thrawn was probably going to contact the other ships, and he didn't need Pellaeon questioning his motives anymore today.
