Star Destroyer Chimaera

Admiral Firmus Piett made his way down a long corridor before knocking on a door.

"Admiral Piett with special report for Grand Admiral-"

Piett was cut off when the door slid open automatically. Trying to keep his memories of his time under Vader in check, Piett entered the room before he suddenly found a knife at his throat.

"What are you doing?" Piett asked calmly.

The women who had the knife at his throat didn't answer at first, merely eying him wearily. Then, slowly, she retracted the knife.

"My job," she said simply.

Piett merely nodded. She was one of those women who had been mysteriously powered a few months ago. Thrawn had brought many into the fold in the months following. Some were Imperial Soldiers, others new recruits from distant planets. Piett wasn't sure how he felt about all these women being such an important part of Thrawn's plan, but his time under serving under Vader had taught him questioning your superiors was a sure way to end your life.

"You may enter," the woman said as she stepped back.

"Thank you," Piett said, his voice and face perfectly controlled.

Piett walked further into the room and over to a door. Opening it, he walked inside, stopping short as he saw he had entered a room with various holographic paintings and statues. And, sitting in the center of it in a chair identical to the one Piett had been sitting in on the Bridge was Thrawn. His blue face was relaxed and his red eyes were closed. Piett almost believed Thrawn was asleep until he spoke.

"Enter Admiral," Thrawn said, startling Piett. "You have news for me?"

"Yes Grand Admiral," Piett said as he straightened, staring right at Thrawn. "I thought you'd want to know that the scouts have returned from the Oboa-skai system. The wing commander will be ready for debriefing in a few minutes."

Thrawn nodded. "And were they able to tap into the central library system?"

"They got at least a partial dump. I don't know yet if they were able to complete it. Apparently there was an attempt in pursuit, although the wing commander thinks he lost them."

"No, I don't think he has," Thrawn said softly after a moment. "Especially not if the pursuers were from the Rebellion."

Thrawn finally opened his eyes and Piett fought the urge to look away from his gaze. Piett, like many of his fellow Imperials, was uncomfortable in Thrawn's presence. But no one could deny his ability to lead. It's why Thrawn was the only non-human to hold the rank of Grand Admiral.

"Tell me Admiral, do you know anything about art?" Thrawn asked as he got to his feet, taking Piett back at the abrupt change in subject.

"No Sir can't say I do," Piett said and Thrawn nodded.

"A pity," Thrawn said as he made his way over to one of the paintings. "Saffa paintings, Circa 1550 to 2200, Pre-Empire Date. Look how the style changes at the first contact with the Thennqora. There-" Thrawn pointed to another painting on the left hand wall. "-are examples of Paonidd extrassa art. Note the similarities to Saffa work and also the mid-eighteenth century Pre-Em Vaathkree Flatsculp."

"Sir, with all due respect, should we-"

Piett's question was cut off by a shrill whistle. The emergency alert Comms syestem.

"Bridge to Grand Admiral Thrawn. Sir, we're under attack!"

Thrawn calmly tapped the intercom switch. "This is Thrawn. Go to red alert and tell me what we've got. Calmly, if possible."

"Yes Sir. Sensors picked up four New Republic Assault Fighters. Plus, at least three wings of X-Wing fights coming in on our scoutships' vector."

Piett fought the urge to make the jump to lightspeed, looking instead at Thrawn. A lesson he had learned from Vader, always wait until the more experienced Commander gave the order before doing anything in this situations. Panicking would only get them all killed. As it did in the Battle of Endor, when the Emperor and Lord Vader fell. Piett himself had only survived by getting an escape pod just in time.

"TIE Fighter crews to their stations, activate deflector shields," Thrawn ordered.

"Yes sir."

"Sir," Piett began once the officer cut the call.

"Come here Admiral. Let's take a look, shall we?" Thrawn suggested, gesturing him over to his station.

Wearily, Piett walked over as Thrawn flipped a switch. To Piett's amazement, the statues and paintings were replaced by holographic readings just like in the bridge room. Thrawn took a moment to observe the readings before speaking.

"Fortunately, the scoutships have enough of a lead not to be in danger themselves," Thrawn observed. "So let's see what we're dealing with. Bridge, order the three nearest sentry ships to attack."

"Yes Sir."

Thrawn and Piett watched silently as the dots representing the X-Wings and Assault Fighters shifted in response to the attack. One of the dots blinked out.

"Excellent. That will do Lieutenant. Pull the other Sentry ships back and order the Sector Four line to scramble out of the Invaders vector," Thrawn ordered.

"Yes sir," the Lieutenant said, sounding as confused as Piett.

"With all due respect Grand Admiral, should we not signal the rest of the Fleet?" Piett asked, knowing it wouldn't be hard to get more.

"The last thing we want to do is bring in more ships," Thrawn said with a light smile. "After all, there may be survivors. And we wouldn't want the Rebellion learning about us, would we?"

"No Sir," Piett said, a little impressed with Thrawn's military genius.

But The Emperor hadn't named him a Grand Admiral for nothing.

"Bridge, I want a twenty-Degree port yaw rotation," Thrawn ordered. "Bring us flat to the invaders' vector, superstructure pointing at them. As soon as they're within the outer perimeter, the Sector Four line is to re-form behind them and jam all transmissions."

"Yes sir," the Lieutenant said confused but following orders.

"Sir-" Piett began as Thrawn's orders were being followed.

"Watch and learn Admiral," Thrawn sad, watching the display calmly. "That's fine Bridge, stop rotation and hold position there. Drop docking deflector shields, boost power to all others. TIE Fighter Squadrons, launch when ready. Head directly away from the Chimaera for two kilometers, then sweep around in open cluster formation. Backfire speed, zonal attack pattern."

Once his orders were acknowledged, Thrawn looked towards Piett. "Do you understand now Admiral?"

"I'm afraid not Sir. I see now that you turned the ship to give our fighters some exit cover, but there is no way the Rebels will fall for such a simple maneuver," Piett said in confusion.

"On the contrary, not only will they fall for it, they will be utterly destroyed by it," Thrawn said with surprising confidence. "Watch and learn Admiral. Watch and learn."

Bewildered, Piett did watch, seeing as the TIE Fighters launched, doing exactly as Thrawn had ordered. But the surprise came when he saw the reaction of the Rebels.

"What in the blazes are they doing?" Piett wondered.

"They're trying the only defense they know of against a Marg Sabl. Or at least they only defense they are psychologically capable of attempting," Thrawn explained. "You see Admiral, there's an Elom commanding that force. And Elomin simply cannot handle the unstructured attack profile of a properly executed Marg Sabl."

Piett looked at the display for a moment before glancing at Thrawn; his tactics now clear to Piett.

"That Sentry Ship attack a few minutes ago. You were able to tell from that brief assault that those were Elomin Ships?" Piett asked in amazement.

For a long moment, Thrawn merely watched the readings.

"Learn about art Admiral. When you understand a species' art, you understand that species," Thrawn said before straightening. "Bridge, bring us to flank speed. Prepare to join the attack."

As the crew followed Thrawn's orders, Piett merely stared at his superior, realizing that, while Thrawn did have Lord Vader's ability with The Force, he was every bit the Military Commander as Vader had been.

Perhaps even better.

A short chapter that's basically a copy/paste from the book, but I wanted to introduce readers who have never met him to Thrawn.

Thrawn would be played by Michael Fassbender.