En Route to Taris

ISD Admonitor

Grand Admiral Thrawn

Thrawn ducked as Spike swung at his head, followed by a quick punch which sent Twilight on her back. The Grand Admiral is wearing only his pants and his boots, showing his muscles for all to see.

Spike was wearing his armor while Twilight wore a sports bra, her pants, and boots. The dragon swung down, but Thrawn effortlessly sidestepped.

Quickly and knowing Spike was strong enough to support his weight, he jumped on Spike's hand with his left foot, and used his momentum to kick Spike on the chin.

He was sent sprawling on the ground, his hand holding his chin. Meanwhile, Twilight tried to attack Thrawn from behind, but the Chiss was quick to block her punch. They began to swing and block each other's punches, but after a while, Thrawn saw an opening and headbutted the alicorn.

Thrawn heard the dragon charging him from behind.

Clumsy He thought.

He sidestepped his swing, but unexpectedly, Spike used his tail to trip Thrawn.

Lying on his back, he rolled as Spike tried hitting him with his staff. Twilight tried to kick him, but her leg was grabbed by Thrawn as he got up. He then kicked Twilight's other leg, making her fall. She then tried to get up, but Thrawn jabbed her on the face, causing her to hold her face in pain.

Spike used his stick to try to jab Thrawn on his back, but the Chiss sidestepped once again and in a blink of an eye, chopped the wooden staff in half. The dragon was surprised for a second, but a second was all Thrawn needed.

He grabbed the dragon by the head with both hands, and kneed him, sending him on his back.

The Grand Admiral looked at his two opponents. Twilight was getting back up but Spike was groaning, holding his snout.

"Sir, you're needed on the bridge. We're approaching Taris."

Thrawn looked at the entrance of the room to find Sergeant Kreel, Zuke, Misty, Cav, and Shrap watching them.

"Very well Sergeant. Where is Aero and Mic?"

"Game room. Aero thinks he could beat Mic in any video game. Poor guy."

Thrawn smirked before turning to his two opponents.

"You two have fought well, an improvement from yesterday. Miss Sparkle, you need to build up your strength. Your punches aren't strong enough. Mr Spike, excellent usage of your tail, use it more. You are very strong, but you're still clumsy. That wooden staff won't be enough for you however. Once we get to Niraun, we'll get you something suited for you."

"Thank you sir." Both of them said.

"Good, get cleaned up. For the rest of the day, do what you want, study, exercise, try to beat Mic in video games, anything. I won't be available for a while."

The Grand Admiral walked out to get cleaned up and dressed. It hasn't been long since Thrawn started sparring with Twilight and Spike. With the assistance of Scar Squad, he's been training them in marksmanship and CQB. Thrawn reminded himself to teach them war tactics later.

15 Minutes Later

In Orbit over Taris

Thrawn walked towards a waiting Captain Niriz, who stood in front of the bridge's viewport, looking at his datapad.

"Well, Grand Moff Zsinj has been alerted of your arrival and is awaiting your presence. There's a thunderstorm over the capital city sir so I advise you wear your cap and cape."

Thrawn sighed. "Very well. What is the status of our reinforcement fleet?"

"They're already here. I have a list on my datapad." Niriz said as he handed Thrawn his datapad.

Reinforcement Fleet for Grand Admiral Thrawn

Imperial Star Destroyer: Conviction, Conquest, Engager, Emperor's Will, Moonshadow, Predator, Punisher, Wolf's Claw

Immobilizer 418-class Cruiser: Claw

Allegiance-class Battlecruiser: Liquidator, Decimation

The Wolf's Claw is from Admiral Drommel's fleet. Looks like I've gained myself another enemy.

He then noticed something odd about the fleet defending Taris.

"Captain, where's the Brawl? I thought you said Zsinj is here."

"He is here sir. I never got any news on what happened to the Brawl."

"Well, then." Thrawn gave the datapad back to Niriz. "Looks like I'll have to ask him myself."

1 Hour Later

Taris

Thrawn walked down the ramp of his shuttle wearing his cap and his cape. Rarely do Grand Admirals ever wear either one of them, but for Thrawn, he chose a bad time to visit as severe thunderstorms and winds battered the capital.

In front of him were General Hastorn Ziering, Commander Janek Sunber, and two lines of stormtroopers, to greet the Grand Admiral.

"Welcome to Taris Grand Admiral." said General Ziering as he and Sunber saluted.

"Did I come at a bad time?" Thrawn said as he looked to the sky.

"Yes sir, however, it is indeed odd that such a storm appeared during the dry season." Sunber replied.

"Hm, very well. Lead on gentleman."

The two officers led the Grand Admiral who was being escorted by a squad of Death Troopers. They were all silent as they walked into the capital building. Thrawn couldn't help but admire the many artworks and the lavish hallways they walked through.

They came upon a huge door guarded by two guards. Thrawn have never seen them before, but he has heard about Zsinj's Raptors, and elite group handpicked by the Grand Moff himself within the Stormtrooper Corps.

Ziering walked in front of one of the Raptors and gave him a code cylinder.

"Grand Admiral Thrawn is here to see Grand Moff Zsinj."

The Raptor nodded before inserting the code cylinder into a dataport. Ziering motioned Thrawn to enter once the door opened.

Thrawn walked into a giant room, guards lined the walls with windows looking over the city to his left. At the far end of the room was a desk with the Grand Moff sitting behind it, looking at a datapad.

As Thrawn started walking towards him, Zsinj perked up and saw his former commanding officer.

"Guards, leave." Zsinj announced.

All of the guards marched quickly out of the room before the door closed.

As soon as they left, Thrawn walked up in front of the desk and shook hands with Zsinj.

"Been a long time sir." Zsinj said.

"You don't need to call me sir you know." Thrawn said as he took a seat.

"Yeah, but old habits die hard." Zsinj responded. The Grand Moff lit a cigar and took a puff. He took out a box and offered Thrawn one.

"I don't smoke Zsinj, you know that." Thrawn said as Zsinj put the box away.

"Eh, it's been years. People can change a lot."

"Hm, where's the Brawl by the way, I didn't spot it over Taris."

Zsinj sighed before turning on the holoprojector on the desk. It showed a hologram of an Executor-class Super Star Destroyer but a piece of the bow was missing.

"What happened?" Thrawn asked staring at the hologram.

The Grand Moff rubbed his temple. "Rebels tried to jump out of hyperspace close enough to the planet to crash land a Venator into the capital city. Apparently, the Brawl was on the way and they ended up ramming the bow. The Venator was completely destroyed, but they must've stored a lot of munitions in the Venator since the explosion took out a portion of the bow. A Rebel fleet jumped into the system but immediately fled after finding out about the botched operation."

"So you still have problems with Syndulla huh?"

"More than ever. Raiding convoys and bases, and inserting cells in cities. I wouldn't be surprised if there are rebels in the capital city right now. Enough of that however, I know you enough to know you're not here for small talk."

They were silent for a while before Thrawn took out a datachip from his pocket.

"Tell me Zsinj, what do you know about the Emperor and the history of the galaxy?"

30 Minutes Later

Zsinj sat in silence, pondering about the information that was dumped on him.

"I...this is unbelievable, but I know you enough to know you're not lying. I've fought for so long, lost so much to please the Emperor."

Zsinj turned to the giant painting behind him. The painting portrayed a female Imperial Admiral.

Thrawn took not of the sadness on Zsinj's face. "Do you think it was worth it Zsinj? You may be a Grand Moff, but in the eyes of the Emperor, no other Grand Moff will ever be as valued as Tarkin. You're just a pawn to him. Your mother loved you so much, that she would defy the Empire for you. You didn't see that until it was too late. What would your mother have done in this situation?"

Zsinj turned back to Thrawn, a single tear streaked down his right cheek. "You know I lost a piece of my heart when I finally killed her. I never thought about the consequences until after. Look at me now, I live a lavish life, command a powerful fleet, and I've even gotten fat, but none of that will bring mom back. She would've scolded me if she saw me now and probably would've launched a rebellion this very moment and now, I'm kind of inclined to agree with her."

Thrawn was silent as he watched Zsinj. He could see as his face transitioned from tearing up, to frowning.

"I'll join you if you do me some favors."

"Favors? Like what?"

"Two things, tomorrow, there will be an important convoy going to Dathomir carrying many supplies, Gravity Well projectors for some Immobilizers under construction, and parts for the Brawl which is in drydock. Normally, the Brawl would escort important convoys like this, but every other SSD is busy with another mission and I can't trust any of my naval commanders to protect them against Syndulla's Naval Fleet."

"So you need me to oversee the convoy's protection?"

"Exactly, with your reinforcement fleet here, I believe you can defend them."

"Alright then, and your second favor?"

"Help me eliminate Syndulla. He may be extreme, but he's smart enough to never engage me and the Brawl. Syndulla tried that in his first engagement and ended up losing Four MC80s."

"Hm, I've already engaged and humiliated Syndulla back when I was a Vice Admiral and I have no doubt he's out for my blood." Thrawn said as he was thinking of plans.

"So use yourself as bait?"

"I plan to not only protect the convoy, but to eliminate Syndulla as well. I've fought Syndulla before, he won't hesitate to send his own soldiers on suicide runs.

I have a plan, but I need to contact an ally of mine. If my plan succeeds, then you're looking at not only the death of Syndulla, but also the elimination of his entire fleet."

Zsinj took a puff from his cigar.

"Hmmm, so what do you need?"

4 Days Later

Near Halmad, Quellii Oversector

Convoy QC-17

Grand Admiral Thrawn

Thrawn watched from his viewport as a TIE Bomber squadron flew into the nebula the convoy was passing. His fleet, along with some Lancers, Carracks, Dreadnoughts, and Arquitens from Zsinj's fleet, escorted the convoy of thirteen Acclamators and twenty-five smaller freighters destined for the shipyards over Dathomir. Ahead of them was debris from a Clone Wars battle, full of the wreckage of multiple Republic and Separatist ships. It was a haven for scavengers until Zsinj became the Grand Moff of the Quellii Oversector.

Patrols often show up to apprehend scavengers and pirates, a few times they fought back. Thrawn took note of some wreckage of Arquitens, Tartans, and some pirate ships as evident of the turrets placed on them.

Among all of the wreckage though was a Venator. From a distance, it looks perfectly fine but under close inspection, one can see multiple hull breaches, one of the engines was missing, some of its heavy turbolasers were missing, and the bridge was burned out.

General Mohc and Captain Niriz stood by his side.

"Are you sure they would fall for it?" ask Mohc.

"This is a too good of an opportunity for them to pass up. I am sure." Thrawn said. "How are Miss Sparkle and Mr Spike doing Captain Niriz?"

"Sergeant Kreel says they're not ready yet but are getting there. Twilight seems to have taking a liking to pistols while Spike seems to like heavy blasters."

Thrawn rose an eyebrow as he glanced at Niriz. "You've grown accustomed to them."

Niriz crossed his arms as he sighed. "They remind me so much of my older brother and sister, behavior wise at least. If Rebels hadn't destroyed the Intrepid, they would've been serving aboard the Admonitor. My brother was due for a promotion and a transfer and my sister had her documents ready to transfer here. My sister was the smartest out of us three scientifically and would've loved serving under you sir as one of your scientists. My brother however was the top of his class and climbed the ranks in the army quickly. No doubt, he would've been a better general than Haverel."

Thrawn noticed the sadness on Niriz's eyes. He put a hand to comfort his friend.

"Then honor them by living on Captain. You told me before they were very loyal to the Empire. Keep fighting for the Empire. The doctors told me everything Dagon. We are here with you. Me, Voss, and Barris, we will always be there for you my friend. Think about it Dagon, you've come so far. Nobody wants you to give up now. Your siblings would've been proud of what you've accomplished."

Niriz sighed. He started thinking about old memories and could almost feel his sister hugging him from behind and his brother putting his arm around his shoulders. Of the three, Dagon Niriz was the weakest of them all. Scrawny as a child and a victim of bullying, his siblings were always there to defend him. After his siblings signed up, he thought enough was enough and signed up too. He worked hard to become strong and dreamed of becoming an Admiral one day.

"Thank you sir." Niriz said.

"Sir, ships coming out of hyperspace off the bow!" An officer yelled.

The three commanders watched as the Rebel fleet appeared out of hyperspace.

Thrawn made a quick count and counted one MC80 Command Cruiser, four MC80 Star Cruisers, eight MC30Cs, two MC40A Light Cruisers, three MC75 Cruisers, six Dauntless-class Heavy Cruisers, one Venator-class Star Destroyer, two Munificent-class Star Frigates, one Lucerhulk-class Battleship, four captured Dreadnoughts, four Marauder-class Corvettes, and multiple GR-75 Transports, CR90 Corvettes, and Nebulon Frigates.

He took note of the Marauders, multiple CR90s and Nebulons, and all of the GR-75s breaking off from the fleet and heading to the nebula.

Not what I expected, but they just made my job easier. Thrawn thought.

"Order the fleet to turn around. Let the Rebels chase after us. What is the status of Nova Squadron?"

"They say they're ready sir." Niriz responded.

"And the status of the bomb?" Thrawn asked turning to Mohc.

"Primed and ready. Just say the word and I'll detonate it." Mohc said holding a datapad.

"Not yet, wait until they call in for more of their friends."

By this time, the Rebel fleet bypassed the field of wrecked warships and began to launch their fighters.

The three commanders walked to a holotable to guide the fleet's movements and the Rebel movements.

For five minutes, Thrawn watched as the Rebel fleet was next to the Nebula.

"Alert Nova Squadron. They may fire when ready." Thrawn said.

"Yes sir." An officer responded.

"Turn the fleet around, this is where we're making our stand."

They held their breath, until they saw Nova Squadron emerge from the nebula. The Rebel fighters noticed them and gave chase. All of a sudden, there was a bright flash from within the nebula.

There was a giant explosion that consumed half of the Rebel fleet. Many warships including two MC80 Star Cruisers and the lone MC80 Command Cruiser were scorched by the heat. No ships were destroyed, but the explosion knocked out half of the Rebel fleet out of the battle.

"Now with half of their fleet disabled, Syndulla will continue to send the rest after us while a few ships stay behind to run damage control." Thrawn said.

He watched as the fighters from his fleet moved to intercept the Rebel fighters and bombers.

Explosions littered the space as Imperial and Rebel fighters engaged in dogfights. Some Y-Wing Squadrons did make it through, though they were immediately wiped out by the Lancers.

Finally, the main Rebel fleet moved into range of their turbolasers.

"You may fire when ready." Thrawn said. The turbolasers of the Imperial fleet fired in succession in selective targets. The ISD Grey Wolf drew first blood by destroying a CR90 Corvette.

Thrawn noticed that two MC80s were concentrating their fire on the Grey Wolf.

"Alert the Vanguard, Daring, and Ebolo. Assist the Grey Wolf and destroy those MC80s." Thrawn said.

He didn't turn around as Twilight and Spike entered the bridge. They watched as the crew worked and approached the table where the three commanding officers were conducting the battle.

"I am pleased you can join us Miss Sparkle and Mr Spike." Thrawn said.

"I thought Sergeant Kreel was suppose to train us today." said Twilight.

"Ah, my apologies. They have a mission to attend to."

Spike took a look at the holotable. "So where are they?"

A small blip showed up behind the Rebel fleet.

"Ah, they've arrived just in time." said General Mohc.

They watched as the small blip got closer and closer to the blip of the damaged MC80 Command Cruiser.

"Um, sir? It looks like your fighters are losing." said Twilight.

Thrawn could see the blips of his fighter force have taken significant losses, but he also took note of the missing blips of many GR-75 Transports, CR90s, Corvettes, and one of the MC80s that attacked the Grey Wolf.

"So it seems. Captain Niriz, initiate Phase Two and deploy the 181st, it's time we give these Rebels fighters a challenge."

Twilight and Spike were a little confused about what Thrawn said. They were not at the debriefing, but they did read up about the 181st. Supposedly, they were the most famous and elite fighter wings. From what they've read, they're more feared by the Rebels than a fleet of Imperial Star Destroyers. Imps Stars were designed to engage capital ships, not fighters, but an elite force like the 181st, they feast on squadrons of Rebel fighters and small ships like Corvettes and Transports.

To Twilight's and Spike's amazement, the twenty-five freighters in the convoy disappeared in the map and were replaced by the blimps of Imperial Fighters, Interceptors, and Bombers.

"Forty from each freighter. Plus the 181st, that'll give the Rebels something to worry about before we initiate Phase Three." said Captain Niriz.

Thrawn crossed his arm and turned to an Imperial officer who was leaning next to the blast doors of the bridge, flicking a coin into the air.

"So, are you sure Agent Kirtan Loor, the shuttle carrying Scar Squad is completely invisible to the Rebel's scanners?"

The ISB agent smiled, almost evilly. "I'm sure it is Grand Admiral. Why doubt me? I exposed every other ISB agent on the fleet for you and gave you dirt on General Evir Derricote and his projects. I'll keep doing favors for you and all you have to do, is keep me alive and oust Isard."

"I suppose." Thrawn sighed. "Oh Evir Evir Evir, how the mighty have fallen." He said as he turned back to the holotable.

Near Halmad, Quellii Oversector

MC80 Ryloth

General Cham Syndulla

"Hera, Hera listen to me. You need to pull all forces back now. Half of the fleet is out of action and the transports are never going to make it." Cham Syndulla said over the coms as he tried to plead to his daughter.

"Not until we finish off Thrawn. He took Ezra, he took Kanan, now he just took out Sabine's brother and sister. All of the transports are gone. If we concentrate all our firepower on the Admonitor and take out the bridge, we'll leave a devastating blow to the Empire." Hera said.

"That's exactly what he wants Hera. He wants you to attack him. Look at the fleet, our fighters are being overwhelmed, our ships are being picked off one by one, and top of that, you've got the 181st massacring our forces. The longer you engage Thrawn, the more casualties you'll take. Just listen to me, pull back to defend the damaged ships. Reinforcements are on the way. Once they arrive, THEN we can launch another assault. It doesn't seem like Thrawn is interested in retreating."

"Fine, but something doesn't feel right. I've got a bad feeling about this."

Cham sighed. He watched from the holotable as the blips of his forces began to pull back from engaging Thrawn's fleet. Around him, the crew worked frantically to get the many systems on the ship back online.

Just like many of the ships damaged from the explosion, the Ryloth's shields have been disabled, many of their batteries were not responding, some of the hangers were destroyed, and their engines are working at half power. The good news is the reactor has been stabilized.

It was to be a simple smash and grab. The convoy carried many ship components for Interdictors under construction at Dathomir including Gravity Well projectors, and parts needed to repair the damaged Brawl. As much as he wants to finish off the Super Star Destroyer, the defenses on Dathomir will shred his forces like nothing and none of his agents were successful in recruiting the Nightsisters. They were all either intercepted by the Imperials or the Nightsisters turned them down.

Turns out, a year back, they would've gladly joined in, but repeated losses and the strong Imperial presence on their planet left them doubting the strength of the Rebels. Hoth was the final straw for them.

*THUNK*

The bridge was dead silent when they heard that sound.

"What was that?" A Human officer said.

"Could be an asteroid." A Twi'lek answered.

"Can't be. Check the scanners for anything." Cham ordered.

One of the crewmembers checked the scanner.

"Scanner's not showing anything sir."

*BZZZZT*

Cham could see someone was cutting the ceiling of the bridge.

"Boarders! Alert the fleet quickly!" Cham yelled.

Before anyone could do anything, there was a small explosion that sent a few crewmembers to the ground.

Cham pulled out a blaster to repel the boarders. He was expecting Stormtroopers to jump down, but instead, two canisters fell in.

One of them landed in front of Cham. He tried to get away before it unleashed a cloud of smoke which left him coughing.

The Twi'lek General couldn't see anything as smoke filled his vision.

Red bolts could be seen streaking through the smoke. Screams filled the air as he heard members of his crew get taken down by the boarders. He leaned on a monitor, still coughing.

Cham aimed his blaster around him.

It was silent, no blaster fire, no yelling. Cham was getting paranoid as he looked around.

*CRUNCH*

Cham turned around to aim his blaster but was met by a fist to the face.

His visioned blurred as he held his face in pain.

"Well well well."

The Twi'lek looked up to see the form of some kind of Stormtrooper with a customized armor. The glowing blue visor of the Stormtrooper's helmet was intimidating.

Spec Ops Cham thought.

"This is Mic. I've found the target." The Stormtrooper said. He kneeled down to get closer to Cham's face.

"You know Chammy ole pal, I don't appreciate you killing my brothers and sisters. Also, when we sent people to kill your people, you killed more of our people. Not cool. Not cool." Mic said as he stood back up. "You have no idea how not cool that shit is. But I think you're gonna be up to speed shortly. Yeah, you are so gonna regret rebelling in the first place."

Cham couldn't see because of the helmet, but he could tell the Stormtrooper was smiling.

"Oh yes, yes you are." The stormtrooper lifted his foot and stomped on his face.

Near Halmad, Quellii Oversector

Captain Turr Phennir

181st Imperial Fighter Wing

Captain Phennir dodged incoming fire from an A-Wing chasing him. He flew through the many Imperial and Rebel warships battling each other. A Rebel Nebulon in front of him blew in half, causing him to use evasive maneuvers to avoid the debris.

To his disappointment, the A-Wing did not break off to avoid the debris.

"Well that's a shame." He muttered.

Phennir cut the engines, causing the A-Wing to shoot past him. As it passed him, he fired a burst and watched as the A-Wing catch on fire.

He restarted his engine and moved to finish off the A-Wing. Clearly, the A-Wing was not completely out as it continued to maneuver through debris.

"What's this guy doing?" Phennir said to himself.

After passing the debris from a Dauntless-class Heavy Cruiser and two Arquitens-class Light Cruisers, Phennir realized the target of the A-Wing.

He cursed as he saw the Turbolaser batteries of the Admonitor miss the nimble A-Wing. Phennir came to the conclusion that the A-Wing pilot intends to crash him or herself on to the bridge of the Grand Admiral's flagship.

"Oh no you don't." He said as he fired a burst. The A-Wing did a barrel roll in an attempt to avoid the fire coming from the Imperial Ace.

All it took was one hit. Phennir watched as one of the engines took a hit. The A-Wing pilot lost control and he smiled in satisfaction as the A-Wing crashed into the hull of the ISD.

Phennir made a half circle around the bridge tower and faced the last MC80 Star Cruiser. The doomed vessel was taking hits from multiple Imperial warships.

"Omega 2, Omega 3, form up on me." Phennir ordered on the coms.

Two 181st TIE Interceptors appeared and flew alongside him after finishing off a Y-Wing squadron.

Captain Phennir watched as the shields of the MC80 fail under overwhelming firepower.

"This is Grand Admiral Thrawn, all units concentrate fire on the last MC80." He heard the Grand Admiral over the coms.

"Hey sir, are we gonna hang back or are we going to let the bombers finish it off." One of his wingmen said as hordes of TIE Bombers converge on the last operating Rebel Capital ship.

"Of course not. The Grand Admiral ordered all units to concentrate fire on that MC80. How about a little strafing run on their bridge eh?" Phennir said.

"We're with you sir." The other wingman said.

"Good, then try and keep up." Phennir accelerated his Interceptor with his wingmen following suit.

The entire ship was on fire with multiple hull breaches, courtesy of the Admonitor and the TIE Bomber squadrons.

"Bridge tower is still intact. Let's finish them off." He said.

"Copy that, moving in for a strafing run."

The three TIE Interceptors formed up, heading straight towards the bridge. Phennir could imagine the horrified faces of the bridge crew as they saw three TIE Interceptors heading straight towards them. They fired their cannons, watching as they flew into the bridge. After a few hits, an explosion consumed the inside of the bridge.

The three aces flew past the bridge tower as more TIE Fighters and TIE Bombers finished their runs on the MC80.

"Hah, they're retreating. Let's pick off as many as we can."

"Couldn't agree more." Phennir responded.

They flew behind three X-Wings and quickly destroyed them.

"Hey, we've got bigger targets. 2 o'clock. A YT-2400 and a VCX-100."

"It's the Sato's Hammer and the Ghost. Let's get them then."

They banked right until they were behind the two Rebel ships. Their turrets noticed them and started firing.

"These things have shields, concentrate all fire on the Sato's Hammer."

The three TIE Interceptors continued to fire on the Sato's Hammer while the Ghost broke off get behind them.

"Amateurs. Whoever's manning the turrets are a bunch of amateurs." Phennir said as they effortlessly dodged any incoming fire.

In no time, the shields were down and they battered the freighter. There were two small explosions near the engine of the freighter as it began to trail smoke.

"Behind us!" One of his wingmen said as some laser bolts streaked past them, one of them gotten uncomfortably close to Phennir's cockpit.

"Evasive Maneuvers!" Phennir yelled.

The three TIE Interceptors broke off their attack to avoid the Ghost.

"It's still chasing us. Split up. They'll come after one of us. Whoever's not being chased, finish off the Sato's Hammer."

"Copy that."

They broke off but Phennir noticed he was still being shot at.

*sigh* "Of course it's me."

Taking advantage of the maneuverability of the TIE Interceptor, Phennir made himself a hard target to shoot at.

Meanwhile, while the Ghost is distracted, his two wingmen continued to fire on the Sato's Hammer.

Phennir noticed the Ghost stopped firing at him

"Shit, Omega 2 and 3, bogey heading back to you." Phennir said as he banked right to pursue the Ghost.

"Copy that. We're finishing off the target."

Phennir got behind the Ghost and peppered the ship. However, they refused to break off and fired at his two wingmen.

They noticed the incoming bogey and broke off their attack. The Captain smiled as he saw fires all over the Sato's Hammer including the cockpit which was engulfed with flames.

To his delight, the Sato's Hammer exploded into a brilliant ball of flame.

"Alright gents, lets finish off the Ghost and go home."

"Omega leader, you are straying too far from the fleet. Return immediately. The Grand Admiral is about to initiate Phase Three."

"Well shit. Another time lads, lets go home."

To the confusion of the Ghost crew, the three Interceptors broke off the attack.

Near Halmad, Quellii Oversector

ISD Admonitor

Grand Admiral Thrawn

"As you can see Miss Sparkle, while the Rebels do indeed have superior fighters, we not only have the superior pilots, but also the numerical superiority." Thrawn said.

"So you waited until the first wave of fighters softened up the Rebels before you revealed the hidden fighters?" Twilight asked.

"Exactly."

"Well sir, looks like Grand Moff Zsinj arrived earlier than expected." Captain Niriz said.

Behind Thrawn's fleet, Zsinj's fleet of twelve Imperial Star Destroyers, fourteen Victory-class Star Destroyers, seven Procursator-class Star Destroyers, ten Lancer-class Frigates, twenty-four Arquitens-class Light Cruisers, eight Carrack-class Light Cruisers, and one Secutor-class Star Destroyer appeared out of hyperspace to reinforce Thrawn's fleet.

Zsinj's hologram appeared on the holotable.

"So, it appears your plan is working." Zsinj said.

"Of course, years of fighting incompetent commanders have made the Rebels bolder and overconfident."

Zsinj frowned a little. "Are you saying I'm incompetent?"

"I wasn't referring to you. When this is all over, I need to inspect the academies and court martial incompetent commanders. One should not achieve high rankings simply because you know people."

"For that, I agree."

"Sir, more ships coming out of hyperspace." An officer said.

The commanders plus the alicorn and the dragon watched as another fleet of Rebel ships appeared behind the debris field.

"Phase Three?" General Mohc asked.

Thrawn waved his hand in dismissal. "Not yet, wait until they're in the middle of the debris field."

"Um, what's Phase Three?" Spike said.

Thrawn smirked. "Crushing their hopes."

The Rebel fleet was about the same size of the first wave, but including two more MC80 Command Cruisers and an Imperial II-class Frigate.

"Ah yes, the Rand Ecliptic. It hasn't been sighted since prior to the Battle of Yavin." Thrawn said.

It was at that point, the Rebel reinforcements were in the middle of the debris field.

"General Mohc, initiate Phase Three."

"Heh, with pleasure." Mohc said as he pushed a button on his datapad.

Within the debris field, the Rebel reinforcements were confused as the nearly intact and abandoned Venator had explosions dotting the hull.

In a blink of an eye, a large explosion consumed the entire debris field, and the reinforcement fleet.

Everyone on the Admonitor held on to something as the ship was rocked by the explosion.

Amongst the remnants of the first Rebel fleet, many smaller ships including an MC80 were completely destroyed by the explosion. The Ghost in particular, nearly crashed into the hull of a destroyed Nebulon due to the force of the explosion.

When it was over, Niriz whistled. "Wow, didn't know Rhydonium blew up so nicely."

Twilight however, was still shaken. "How did you know there would be enemy reinforcements?"

Thrawn looked at her. "It's easy Miss Sparkle. Rebels always have friends nearby coming to the rescue."

"So I guess this means Phase Four has been initiated?" Zsinj said crossing his arms.

"Indeed." Thrawn said.

As expected of Thrawn, a large Imperial fleet appeared where the Rebels came from. The entire fleet consisted of warships the size of Gladiator-class Star Destroyers and smaller with one Immobilizer 418 to keep the Rebels from escaping.

"Alert Admiral Screed to finish off the Rebels."

Near Halmad, Quellii Oversector

Gladiator-class Star Destroyer Demolisher

Admiral Terrinald Screed

"All batteries open fire. Alert the Black Asp to activate their gravity well projectors." Screed ordered.

"Yes sir. Right away." An officer responded.

Screed watched from the viewport of the bridge, his hands behind his back. The Remnants of the Rebel fleet were rushing them. The turbolasers from his ships continued to pick them off one by one, but they still kept coming.

Something isn't right. He thought.

"Sir! The Black Asp is breaking formation!"

"What?" Screed said angrily. "Alert them and tell them to get back into formation."

"But sir, they're not responding to any of our hails!"

Screed turned back to the viewport. All what's left of the Rebel fleet was a few fighters and a freighter. The Black Asp, which is now facing the other way, fell in with the Rebels.

"Traitors." Screed hissed. "Concentrate all fire on the Black Asp now!"

Without warning, the Rebels plus the Black Asp disappeared as they jumped into hyperspace.

Screed was seething. It was obvious to the crew as they watched him punch a wall with his cybernetic arm.

Near Halmad, Quellii Oversector

ISD Admonitor

Grand Admiral Thrawn

"Well that was unexpected." Thrawn said. "Captain Niriz, casualty report please?"

"Yes sir. We've lost four Arquitens, two Dreadnoughts, thirteen Carracks, eight Lancers, and two hundred and eighty-seven pilots. Among our capital ships, only the Grey Wolf and the Vanguard received some light damage."

Thrawn sighed sadly. "Unfortunate losses."

"So I'm going to presume we're assaulting Mandalore next?" Zsinj said.

"Of course, gather your fleet. Admiral Screed will assist us and I will contact Grand Admiral Octavian Grant, Admiral Kohrin, and Generals Immodet, Redd Wessel, Paltr Carvin, and Alix Balan to see if they can assist."

"Alright, I'll also contact Admiral Llon Banjeer. He's a good friend of mine and will be able to assist." Zsinj said.

"Immodet? Better be careful about him. Heard he's a real xenophobic asshole." Captain Niriz mentioned.

"Uh, is it necessary we need this many high-ranking officers just for Mandalore?" Mohc asked.

"Yes it is. We need capable commanders, not some members of nobility who paid their way to their ranks to assault Mandalore. Ever since the clans united, they've made turned their planet into a fortress world. The Emperor has already sent three assaults on Mandalore, all of them failed but he's barely even paying attention to them nowadays. It's protected by many defense platforms, and a fleet of Keldabe-class Battleships and Clone Wars era warships. Now that the Rebel fleet here has been destroyed, their defenses should've been thinned." Thrawn said.

"With the defenses Mandalore has, we need more than a bunch of Star Destroyers, but something bigger." Niriz said.

"Which is why I will contact Admiral Kohrin. The Enforcer without a doubt, will be very useful for us. Our reinforcement fleet will come with us as well." Thrawn said.

While they were discussing their plans, Twilight and Spike were whispering to each other.

"Do you get anything they're saying?" Spike whispered. "They seem oddly calm after what happened."

"I recognize some of the names but General Alix Balan and Admiral Kohrin. I couldn't find their names on the holonet. It must be very serious if Thrawn is gathering all of these officers just to assault Mandalore. They must've dealt with traitors in the past if they're oddly calm about it, unless they expected it."

Something beeped on Thrawn's datapad that silenced everyone.

He took a look before smiling.

"Well ladies and gentleman, it looks like Scar Squad has returned with a special guest who is being interrogated. Miss Sparkle, Mr Spike, Agent Loor, would you like to come with me and welcome our guest?" Thrawn asked.

"Um, sure?" Twilight said.

"Ah whatever. I wanna see how well Scar Squad is in interrogation." Agent Loor responded.

"Excellent, come with me." Thrawn said.

Author's Note

Part two of their time in the Quellii Oversector is next.

Man I need to work out again. It's been weeks since I've actually worked out. Gotta stop eating fast food.

General Ziering doesn't actually have a first name, but since I have plans for him in the future, I gave him one.

Tbh, I found writing Twilight and Spike so much harder than writing Imperial characters whom I barely even knew for a few hours.

Yeah, I killed Star Wars Rebels characters. Wanted to do that for a while. Hopefully, the next Star Wars animated series takes place in the middle of the Galactic Civil War but in the perspective of the Empire.

Besides the Part two of the Quellii Oversector, I've also planned a chapter on the Celestial Alliance's perspective and a non-canon joke chapter centralized around Thrawn. Why? Cuz why not.

Imma do it

yeah