Shadows of the Past

Chapter 27

Three months later

The attack on Attalon left the rebel cell facing the hard truths that came with fighting the Empire on it's own terms, no less led by one of the most capable admirals in history. It was in these dark times that Ezra thought about how dire their situation was.
Thrawn was satisfied with the battle but not fully happy with the results. The leaders escaped, leaving the problem still open. He left the Command Bridge of the Chimaera to go into his quarters. An urgent call however intrerrupted him. He activated his commlink.
'Thrawn here.
'Admiral, sir, we have an incoming transmission from ISB Colonel Yularen.
'How curious. I wonder what is the matter this time...
Thrawn closed the call and headed for his communication centre. The two dark troopers saluted him and allowed him to enter.
The holo was already opened to Thrawn's surprise. The White uniform of the Colonel was reminiscent of his position in the Empire's most secret organisations. Yularen turned to see his fellow comrade.
'Ah, greetings, Grand Admiral!
'Greetings, Colonel. To what do I owe the pleasure?
'Oh, I'm afraid it's bussiness as usual. My agents have located a strange activity in space.
'How so?
'A task force has intercepted an unkown frequency and went to investigate. We lost contact with them a short while after they arrived. One of the last messages they sent was cryptic. It said something among these lines: alien starships drifting through space, hostile, send help.
'I see... Thrawn said unphased. Why send me then?
'We actually sent a fleet after them but they weren't succesfull either. I find this situation frustrating and so does the Emperor. Take your fleet and deal with it.
'Very well. I will be departing shortly.
'Good day, Grand Admiral. Long live the Emperor!
The transmission ended. Thrawn blinked a few times thinking how to proceed. It was certainly unusual. He would send scout first, and keep his fleet as reinforcements.

Wild Space

The Chimaera jumped out of hyperspace along with a few squadrons of TIE fighters alongside it. Thrawn was looking with disgust at the destroyed remainings of the imperial forces that were slowly floating through space. Captain Palleon remarked besides him:
'The misterious alien fleet is close.
From the wreckage of a Star Destroyer, a few starships appeared. They were not unknown to Thrawn. They beared the markings of the old Separatist Alliance.
'Hail them! Thrawn commanded shortly.
'Yes, Grand Amiral.
The call was sent but nobody answered. And the enemy fleet was slowly approaching them.
'They aren't responding sir.
'Fine, then broadcast us on every channel available.
'We're live, Grand Admiral.
Thrawn looked more intently at the coming ships. They were 6 and a 7th was leading them. It was a rather slim but heavily modified Recusant Destroyer. Thrawn hadn't seen one of these for at least 20 years.
'Whoever listens to this, hear me. I am Grand Admiral Thrawn, and I speak with the full authority of the Galactic Empire. We will attack and destroy you if you continue to ignore us. As pirates, you can retreat or surrender now, for only death awaits you otherwise.
'Sir they haven't stopped.
'Fine, patch the rest our forces through.
In that moment, the rest of the 7th Fleet appeared out of Hyperspace, forming a pincer in space. However, the wreckage of the other star destroyers made the formation to be difficult to maintain in advance.
The first shots started to come from the pirates. They launched their own squadrons in space and started dogfights with the imperial ones. The enemy flagship advanced through the battle right into the Chimaera.
Thrawn noticed this.
'Sir, they are trying to board us!
'Prepare the stormtroopers! Ruhk!
From the shadows of the bridge, a dark creature appeared.
'Yes, admiral?
'You're going to observe the boarding party but don't interfere. Bring here the dark troopers also.
'Yess, admiral.
The slim Nogri left the bridge.

After a few minutes, the pirate flagship had made close quarters with the Chimaera and attached to it. The vessels were now connected by a bridge.
Thrawn left his attention on it and looked at the rest of the battle. One of the Star Destroyers was heavily damaged. He directed the one that was already engaged to retrag and back his sister back. The imperial forces were on equal footing for now, but it was a matter of time before they will overwhelm his enemies. It was clear to Thrawn that the boarding strategy was the pirate leader's only chance to turn the tide of the battle in his favour. He was curious to see if he will join the boarding party.
'Sir, their forces made contact with ours.
They are not pirates.
Thrawn was a bit confused for a second. He looked at the camers and saw .. battledroids advancing into the Star Destroyers. They were fearlessly marching and shooting, regardless of their casualties. After 2 dozens of them entered, through the smoke entered a figure of legends, one Thrawn hoped to meet in battle.
'That is a shadow of the past allright, Thrawn remarked to the other officers. Ruhk, return immediately with the dark troopers. Make the squadron set their weapons on shock!
Captain Palleon was acting nervous.
'Sir, their leader is a droid! What is happening?
'We are currently attacked by a surviving leader of the Clone Wars.
'But how? They were all killed.
'Apparently not. We are going to be in danger soon. Prepare for a fight.
The human captain swallowed hard and put his hand on the blaster.
It took a few dozen minutes before the door to the bridge was blown by droids. They advanced but stopped leaving way for their leader. The cloaked figure entered crunched and looking rotten. It was a weird sight to have a cyborg give this vibe. The reptilian eyes looked at the room and analyzed the white dressed Chiss.
'A Grand Admiral. Not what I wanted but it will do.
His raspy voice was the only thing that echoed on the bridge.
'General Grievous I presume.
Thrawn answered.
'You know me Imperial? Grievous asked surprised.
'Only from history books. I am honored to meet such an esteemed strategist from the past.
'Are you now? Sadly, your admirance ends with this meeting.
He ignited two lightsabers.
'Crush them!
Just before he could finish though, a squad of dark troopers and Rukh entered the bridge from a different door. The ensuing fight made both sides take cover and try to survive while killing their enemies. Grievous wanted to advance but he was stopped by a dark being with an electrostaff that was harassing him. The cyborg swirled his lightsaber and parried an attack. He tried to trick the Nogri into a fake blow but his adversary wasn't stupid. They exchanged a few blows before Grievous recieved an impaling strike in his chest. The shock made him growl, and he decided he had enough, so he pulled a blaster from his cape and fired three shots right into the Nogri's heart. The dark being managed to jump away but the blaster bolts hit his foot making him fall under the bridge wounded. Grievous didn't have time to rest as he noticed a blaster bolt coming towards him. He dodged it and then looked at the shooter. It was the Grand Admiral himself. The two of them stared at each other before the General assesed that the dark troopers were actually defeating his own forces. Soon, he will be overrun by sheer numbers. He raised his blaster and shot. Thrawn didn't dodge though as he noticed the blaster went directly to the Main Frame.
'Critical Damage detected.' A robotic voice announced in the room.
Not long after, a huge crash made the ship tremble and parts of the ground fell into a chasm. Grievous retreated through the falling cracks while the droids were covering him.
Thrawn didn't fail to notice his escape.
'Predictable' he mused to himself.
He looked at what remained of the bridge and eyed Captain Palleon.
'Captain, how bad has the ship been affected?
'Grand Admiral, the blow came from the Reactor Core. Nothing too serious but it has rendered the Star Destroyer unoperational.
'Send a repair crew there immediately!
After that, Thrawn looked through the window at the battle. Obviously, the droid fleet was being teared to pieces. However, to his tactical knowledge, they were performing better than expected. His own ships suffered quite the casualties.

After a hasty escape, Grievous reached the Recusant Destroyer. The fact that it was attached to the Imperial Star Destroyer helped it from being targeted. It also meant that Grievous used this to start shooting at the Imperial Fleet with all his weapons. The bridge between the two flagships was now a battleground. The imperials were trying to conquer it and establish a beach head into the green corridors of the Recusant, but the droids were dug in deep with the sole purpose to defend it.
Thrawn looked in desbelief as he saw that a shot from the Recusant destroyed the bridge of one of the Star Destroyers and made it lose control of it's gravity well. The ship started drifting away from the battle because of that.
The Chiss contacted the remainig Imperial Ships.
"This is the Grand Admiral speaking to all Captains. Target the Flagship attached to the Chimaera.
One of the captains of the ISDs asked:
'But sir, we are likely to hit your ship as well!
'We shall concentrate all available energy into shields. We shall be more protected than the enemy. Commence firing!

Grievous was now on the bridge of the Recusant. A Tactical Droid was assessing the battle.
'Sir, it seems your strategy worked, however the imperial fleet decided to ignore the safety of the flagship.
Grievous growled.
'Apparently the Grand Admiral is more daring than I anticipated. We'll have to retreat then. Issue the command to the rest of the fleet.
'Yes General.
Grievous looked at his own losses: a fregate was destroyed and the others suffered medium to high damage. His flagship was mostly unaffected though. The imperials lost 2 ISDs however and the Chimaera was crippled. It wasn't perfect but Grievous deemed it acceptable.

'Sir, they are retreating!
'Fascinating. I would have expected them to pursue their attack.
Thrawn looked as the droids exited into Hyperspace.
'I will have to contact the Emperor about this attack.
Thrawn left the bridge and entered his own quarters. He activated his holo-transmitter and requested an audience with the Sith.
After a long wait, the cloaked figure of Darth Sidious appeared. Thrawn bowed.
'What is it, Grand Admiral? Palpatine asked curious.
'My Emperor, I have some interesting news to report. I have encountered a sizeable fleet of old Separatist ships.
Palpatine frowned.
'They were led by none other than General Grievous. I am surprised he is still alive after all these years.
'Yes, I have come to learn that recently. What happened?
'His tactics almost won the battle by trying to board and kill me. I was able to make him retreat and he escaped with most of his fleet.
'Impressive... Now that you have encountered him, Grand Admiral, I have a task for you. Since the rebels of Lothal are no longer a concern, focus the Seventh Fleet on finding and destroying Grievous.
'Yes, my Emperor.
'Good. I shall send an inquisitor to you. He shall help you in defeating the Separatist should he try to board your ship again.
'When shall I be expecting this new inquisitor?
'Soon enough...