The asteroid belt was in a very high orbit from the planet, some 650,000 kilometers away, but at the Chimaera's maximum sublig

The asteroid belt was in a very high orbit from the planet, some 650,000 kilometers away, but at the Chimaera's maximum sublight speed it took merely 5 minutes to reach standard orbit of the planet. The Annihilator took a flanking position along side the Chimaera as they approached the Violator and the other mysterious Star Destroyer positioned beside it. Thrawn stood at the center view port string at the 2 ships that were becoming more visible.

"What do you think is a good way to let them know our intentions?" Thrawn said turning to Pellaeon.

"I'm not sure what you mean." Pellaeon said, also looking at the 2 enemy vessels.

"Maybe this…" Thrawn said as he entered in a few commands in his chairs tactical monitor. Within seconds a few proton torpedo's launched from the fore torpedo room, heading right for the Violator. Thrawn eyeballed his tactical display carefully; a frown grew on his face as he murmured, " Where the hell are they?"

"Where is who sir?" Pellaeon asked.

"Don't mind yourself with it, are our fighters all ready to launch?" Thrawn asked, obviously changing the subject.

"Yes, and the Annihilators as well sir, when shall we launch?" Pellaeon asked.

"Soon Captain, soon." Thrawn said, standing up straight. Pellaeon hadn't noticed Thrawn height until this very moment; perhaps it was his stance during the quiet moment before a battle. Pellaeon had always felt this was the greatest moment, the minutes before the battle begun. Two forces, beginning a duel that only one would walk away from. Pellaeon looked at the planet Remoss. He thought maybe there was a primitive species down there, looking up at the ships, and if one of them crashed, would be just like the Noghri. Suddenly his display beeped 5 times signaling a newly acquired target.

"Admiral, I'm detecting 4 shuttles ascending from the surface, and a few more unidentified craft following them." Pellaeon said, turning to face Thrawn.

"Yes I see them, and I know what Veer's is doing, and we must stop him before he gets a chance to leave the system." Thrawn said.

"Before he leaves? I don't understand, why would he leave? And how, we're standing in front of the way out." Pellaeon asked franticly.

"No, they could fly right by us without sustaining any damage, as for why they would leave, I believe this planet is a training facility of some kind, for ground troops. He's gathering his forces, and then he'll fight us, but we can't let him get ready." Thrawn said, eyeballing his monitor.

Pellaeon turned to the view port, the Violator and the companion Star Destroyer were no longer in a low orbit, no they were in fact heading right for them. Pellaeon knew as Thrawn did, that they would have no problem getting past them. Pellaeon quickly sent an order to the Annihilators Captain, stating an attack pattern. If they were going to get by them, they were going to get as much damage as possible first.

"Sir, I've ordered a new-" Pellaeon begun.

"Yes I know." Thrawn shouted back.

"Sir, I don't understand, what is the purpose of gathering ground troops for a fleet offensive?" Pellaeon asked.

"Because Captain, he wants to board and capture our ships." Thrawn snapped back.

Pellaeon turned again, and noticed that the Violator was barely 5 kilometers away, they were approaching fast, and they were headed right between the Chimaera and the Annihilator.

"Sir, shall I launch our fighters?" Pellaeon asked. Thrawn looked up.

"Can your pilots handle flying in an enclosed space between 4 ships?" Thrawn asked.

"Yes sir, they have done it before, and a few even at the Battle of Endor." Pellaeon said back.

"Then proceed." Thrawn said. Pellaeon was obviously getting on Thrawns nerves, but then again, I suppose Thrawn was a little pissed off that his plan had failed, whatever it was.

Pellaeon ordered the fighters to launch, and to only attack the unknown Star Destroyer. His pilots were indeed familiar with this kind of combat. During the Battle of Endor, they had flown between all the Star Destroyers and the Rebel armada. Lots of battery fire to watch for as well as the enemy fighters. Now all the remained a question was, weather or not Veers would launch his own fighters, they can't just enter hyperspace without them, and if they had planned on escaping, they would probably just keep them in the hangar.

The Violator was only 550 meters away know, its Turbo lasers were firing rapidly at the Chimaera and the Annihilator. There was a bright green glow illuminating the bridge now. When the Violator was half way past the Chimaera, the shields began to weaken significantly. As for Veers's other Star Destroyer, it had been under heavy fire from both the fighter groups from the Annihilator and the Chimaera, but also the Turbo laser fire from the ships them selves. Thrawn sat quietly at his command chair.

Alarms began to sound all over the bridge; the shields were at 50% and falling fast. Pellaeon looked out at the enemy Star Destroyer, which had almost completely past them now, the Chimaera itself began to turn after it.

"Captain, Captain, we have a message from the Captain of the Annihilator!" the communications officer yelled.

"Put it through!" Pellaeon shouted back. The sound of alarms and other shouting made the bridge a hectic place indeed. Suddenly a pit crewman's station exploded in front of him, sparks flew out in every direction, as a small fire grew in the pit. Pellaeon paused and watched as the emergency extinguisher vents put it out, and made a thick cloud grow over the whole bridge. Shouting was even louder now. Pellaeon looked at a display nearby as he tried to get to the communications station, he noticed that the shields were at critical. Another explosion erupted in the pit, knocking Pellaeon to his knees, then flat on his face. Then there was no sound. He picked himself up, and looked around, there was another fire, this time right next to him, but he couldn't hear anything, he looked up at a crew man who was trying to get out of the pit, he was shouting, but still no sound, just a loud ringing, that seemed to be getting louder and louder. His vision was blurred now, he stood up, and looked at the communications officer who was shouting at him, he could barley make out his voice now, it was a ruffle if anything. Pellaeon stood up and began walking, limping more so, over to the station. He could make out his name, someone was shouting it. The bridge was filled with smoke now, the fire had been extinguished, but the white foam had left a nice cloud in its place. Again he heard his name, he turned and saw the communications officer shouting. It was compete chaos. His hearing was slowly coming back. He could clearly understand what he was hearing, but it was accompanied by a ringing. The display in front of him showed the face of Captain Ferris, who was in charge of the Annihilator. He could make out only parts, but it was pretty clear what was being said, the Annihilator was taking heavy damage. Pellaeon switched off the display and limped over to Thrawn who was now standing facing the view port, watching the battle raging outside. The ship was still turning, attempting to chaise the Violator. Pellaeon noticed the enemy Star Destroyer was no longer there; only large amounts of debris were left in its place.

"We got one, but I don't think we'll get the other." Thrawn said, a tone of disappointment in his voice.

"We're taking too much damage sir, we must abandon the ship, we have to evacuate." Pellaeon said, coughing as he did so.

"No we don't. He doesn't want us dead, remember, he wants our ships." Thrawn said, pointing out at the Violator, which was now stopping, turning about.

Pellaeon entered a few commands into his display again, and then paged commander Covell.

"Covell, I want all security teams in position, we are about to get boarded, and there will be lots of them." Pellaeon said.

"Yes sir." Covell's voice came back.

Outside the ship the Violator was still turning, but then, as it gave view for the asteroid belt, Thrawn and Pellaeon noticed, that there were 3 ships coming in from the entrance, 2 Star Destroyers and 1 Interdictor cruiser.

"Captain Brandei is hailing us Captain!" The communications officer shouted.

"Put it through." Pellaeon said back, excitement in his voice.

"This is Captain Brandei, are we too late?" Brandei said, extremely sarcastic.

"What the hell kept you so long?" Thrawn asked.

"Well, we came out of hyperspace on the other side of the planet, and had to fly all the way around to find a way through this damn field." Brandei said.

The Violator was now heading fast for Remoss, trying to get away. This was an interesting turn of events. The Chimaera and the Annihilator finally turned back around just as the Judicator, Avenger, and the interdictor Constrainer got near them. They finally caught up with the Violator, at an orbit of 1,000 kilometers of the Planet Remoss.

"The battle has only just begun" Thrawn said.