Thrawn: Alliances (spoiler review)
May 2019
Justin Ward
Justin Ward
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Author:
Timothy Zahn
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Publisher:
Del Rey Books
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Originally published:
24 July 2018
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Page count:
368 (Hardcover)
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RRP:
£20.00 (Hardback)
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A long time ago in a galaxy far far away…
I love a good villain, don’t you? In the early 90’s I read a novel by Timothy Zahn titled “Heir to the Empire” that left me completely mesmerised by Thrawn. He possesses the power and ruthlessness of Darth Vader as well as the mystery and duplicity of the Emperor. It’s amazing to see such a character, who didn’t exist in the original canon, become such an integral part of the main canon. If you haven’t read the standalone book “Star Wars: Thrawn” by Timothy Zahn, I highly suggest doing so before reading “Thrawn Alliances”. While there isn’t a lot of critical tie-ins, there are some. Knowing the background will bring a richness to the “Thrawn Alliances”. The story takes place in two different time periods. THEN during the Clone Wars and NOW just after the Battle of Atollon from Star Wars: Rebels. Zahn’s use of the past and present was a very clever way to go about telling this story as it reveals the nature and details of how Thrawn and Anakin met juxtaposed with the tension of their interpersonal relationship as they both seek favour from the Emperor. The experiences these two have offer massive revelations which will have some interesting effects on the Star Wars galaxy moving forward. Below this sentence spoilers abound so if you made it this far and didn’t know there was spoilers now is your last chance to avoid spoilers. In the book the Then and Now sections switching back and forth. For my sanity I’m just going to do them as independent sections. |
Then:
The Clone War rages on. Senator Padmé Amidala has received a communication from one of her oldest and most trusted handmaidens/friends Duja that the Separatists have a secret in the far outer rim region of space. Without wasting too much time she informs Anakin of the communication that she received and that she will be leaving A.S.A.P. to meet up with Duja. Anakin is unable to accompany her as there is a coming battle that he must attend to and even mentions that if only Ahsoka hadn’t left the Jedi Order her would have been able to leave her to the battle.
Once Padmé arrives on Batuu things get more complicated as she discovers her friend has been killed under suspicious circumstances. Finding a hidden key to Duja’s ship that was hidden in her hair clip, she discovers that on a the nearby planet of Mokivj the Separatists have a top secret Factory that needs to be investigated. With no mention of what the factory is making she decides to proceed to the planet in Duja’s ship to see if she can confirm her friends findings and hopefully ensure her friend didn’t die in vain.
Meanwhile Anakin returns from the battle and becomes concerned that he has received no communication from Padmé despite her promise to send him a message when she arrived at the planet. Anakin then decides, in true Anakin Skywalker form, that he will go to Batuu without the consent of the Jedi Council to locate and rescue her if need be. Upon arrival he meets a mysterious ship in orbit. The occupants offer to aid him in his mission. The mysterious person is none other than Mitth'raw'nuruodo (Thrawn) himself. After searching the planet and thwarting an attack, specifically designed for Jedi, from a previously unknown species called the Grysk they question the sole survivor of their attackers and determine that Padmé is no longer on the planet and that she is instead on the nearby planet of Mokivj. The pair steal a ship from their attackers and proceed to the planet to see if they can locate and rescue Padmé.
Once on the planet and reunited with Padmé. They discover that the Separatists are creating a new version of Super Battle Droids that are impervious to blaster fire and have the effect of completely disabling Lightsabers! During their investigation they find that the Separatists have found a rare new mineral called Cortosis that when woven together into an armour makes them impervious to blaster fire and lightsabers. However, Anakin notices that there is also about a dozen Republic Stormtrooper armours with the same cortosis weave. His immediate fear is that they are trying to somehow infiltrate the Republic from within. However, it’s revealed in the NOW part of the book by Vader that the factory was in fact being overseen by Emperor Palpatine himself. He was preparing his army to execute Order 66 and this force was meant to be the strike team that invaded the Jedi Temple.
Fearing that this new droid will tip the scales of battle in favour of the Separatists Anakin sets out to destroy the factory to put a halt to the droids production. However, Thrawn convinces him that they should instead reprogram a flaw in the droids so that his enemy would be unaware until it was too late. Anakin at first agrees to this but then after battling with some of the droids and dealing with the overseer of the operation decides that it is better to destroy the factory and the mining operation completely despite Thrawn and Padmé’s protests. He has Padmé, with the help of some locals that she befriended, get everyone out of the factory and the mine before he destroys them. Unfortunately due to the chemical makeup of the Cortosis, and the way in which it disperses energy, when Anakin blows up the mine the explosion is multiplied tenfold causing the ground to split and for the planet to spew magma and lava destroying the planet and it’s habitat.
During the mission Thrawn’s true mission is also revealed. He is to gain access to the Separatists facility on Mokivj to steal a compact field generator. Stating that the Chiss Ascendancy wanted to reverse engineer it as they had been unable to create something that compact that was able to produce a shield of that size and power. He is successful in obtaining the shield generator with Padme’s help. After obtaining the generator he appears to abandon Padmé and Anakin. However, once he secures the generator he returns to help Anakin finish his mission, stating that his allegiance was to the Chiss Ascendency and that once his obligation was fulfilled he chose to come back and help of his own free will. With both men’s missions complete Thrawn departed for his home. Leaving Anakin and Padmé to return to the Republic.
Now:
The Emperor has felt a disturbance in the Force in a far and remote region of the Outer Rim near the unknown wilds of space on the planet of Batuu. The very planet that a young Mitth'raw'nuruodo and Anakin Skywalker had met previously. Now they return as Grand Admiral Thrawn and Darth Vader, the Emperor’s two most trusted agents, tasked with destroying whatever is causing the disturbance. As always, the Emperor is using this mission to his advantage. He wants to validate Thrawn’s declared allegiance to the Empire and to test Darth Vader’s absolute loyalty.
During this entire section of the book they hint at the fact that Thrawn suspects, despite being told by the Emperor that Anakin Skywalker had died during the Clone Wars, that Darth Vader is in fact Anakin. There are several moments where Thrawn tries to bait Vader into admitting who he really is. Vader doesn’t take the bait. However, towards the end of the book during the space battle while Thrawn is watching Vader fly he witnesses him perform a manoeuvre that he had only ever seen one other pilot perform. Confirming his suspicions that Vader is in fact Anakin. When Thrawn gives one last attempt to reveal Vader as Anakin. Vader replies coldly and with finality that “Anakin Skywalker is dead” to which Thrawn replies with a knowing and forlorn “I know”.
At the same time throughout this part of the book Vader is constantly looking for any sign that Thrawn is not in fact loyal to the Empire but is instead still and Agent of the Chiss Ascendancy. He also takes every opportunity to point out Thrawn’s failure at Atollon. I feel like Zahn is doing a bit of backstory building to explain the dramatic shift that we saw in Thrawn’s tactics at the Battle of Lothal at the end of the Rebels series. Honestly though it does get a bit repetitive as the real crux of the problem is that as usual Thrawn asks for Vader to trust him in regards to certain aspects that don’t seem outright obvious to the casual observer. Which Vader is reluctant to do as he has reservations about Thrawn’s loyalties to begin with and to a degree is jealous of his relationship with the Emperor.
Enroute to their destination, using the hyperspace lane they had used during the Clone Wars, they are pulled out of Hyperspace by a gravity well warning. However, once in real space they cannot locate what tripped the safety feature. Thrawn postulates that there is perhaps a device that simulates a gravity well. Vader counters that there is nothing on the sensors and that anything that can produce that amount of power would be unable to cloak itself as well. After several unsuccessful attempts to get around whatever is blocking them. They are then forced to to take the long way around to the system despite it delaying their mission by several hours.
Upon arriving they leave hyperspace far from the planet so as not to alert anyone of their presence. Thrawn and Vader even go so far as to use a seemingly derelict ship The Dark Hawk that Thrawn keeps aboard his Star Destroyer Chimera for infiltration to the planet surface. While they are investigating the disturbance they discover that the Grysk, have essentially taken over the planet. While simultaneously employing the Darshi who were the unofficial big fish before the Grysk. While not outright oppressing the locals they are essentially in charge as they have bought up most of the supplies, pressed the local thugs into service, and their ships take up all the available bays at the spaceport. Effectively denying visitors/traders a place to dock.
They also notice three new buildings just outside of Black Spire that were not there when they had previously been to the planet during the Clone Wars. Thrawn keenly observes that they have also carefully integrated part of a communications array into one of the petrified trees, the trees that Black Spire derives its name from. They then determine that the other two communications arrays in the triad must be located in the building and in an old abandoned starship just outside of town.
They then proceed to Black Spire Outpost to the same cantina from all those years ago. While they’re inquiring about the local gossip Vader briefly senses the disturbance although it quickly disappears and he is unable to locate it. At the same time Vader and Thrawn are attacked by the Darshi thugs. They utilise a very sophisticated attack that combined personal cloaking devices with a type of bioengineered insect that explodes on contact and forms a permacrete type substance that immobilises the victim without killing them. While fighting their attackers a massive explosion is felt/heard somewhere outside the bar. After thwarting their attackers and investigating the explosion they discover that one of the three buildings that they had seen on the way in had been leveled. Searching the other two buildings doesn’t reveal much other than several metal cylindrical containers and what appear to be miniature hibernation pods.
During the ambush on the planet’s surface Thrawn’s ship informs him that two new freighters have come out of hyperspace one stayed waiting in orbit above the planet with the other headed to the planet surface. Vader then orders the First Legion to capture the freighter and discover its purpose and point of origin. Much to the protest of Thrawn who thinks it unwise to reveal themselves to their enemy until they know more. During the battle they are met with minimal resistance at first but then despite the best efforts of the Chimera Attack Fighters and The First Legion boarding party one of the freighters escapes to hyperspace and the other is scuttled by the Grysk crew, killing themselves in the process rather than be taken captive, keeping their point of origin and motives a secret. The mission is not a complete failure however, as the boarding party was able to get the drop on 3 of the Grysk and take them as captives. Thrawn also points out that despite the destruction of the bridge and cargo hold that there is still much to be learned from the freighter even if it’s contents were destroyed.
Thrawn comes up with a plan to draw their enemy out of hiding, to capture them and their ship before they can destroy themselves. Thrawn does this by returning to the hyperspace lane that they had tried to use on the way into the Batuu region of space. Only this time he kept coming at it from different angles to map it’s outer asymmetrical perimeter. Which he ultimately used to determine the source of the gravity well mystery.
After disabling the gravity well and bringing it aboard the ship for analysis Thrawn determines that the chemical makeup is the same as that of what was left in the cargo hold of the captured Grysk freighter and what they had seen in the building on Batuu. It’s also revealed that this Gravity Well Project in fact does have a cloaking mechanism and that the way it is able to handle the energy transfer is that it’s made of the same Cortosis material that the droids were made from all those years ago during the Clone Wars. Thrawn then deduces that the Grysk are trying to close off hyperspace travel to an unknown region of the Galaxy. Their reason why is as of yet unknown.
Thrawn then concocts a plan to use the Dark Hawk to draw out the Grysk by doing a hyperspace-jump to the next gravity well projector in the line. Deducing that the Grysk had seen the Star Destroyer Chimera and assessed their combat ability the first time they came through the area. Thrawn hopes to lure the Grysk from their hiding with a smaller and seemingly easier target. Which he was successful in achieving with the Dark Hawk’s unassuming nature. The First Legion successfully takes the ship without them being able to scuttle it and taking most of the crew as prisoners.
Once successful in capturing the ship, it's crew and contents. They find the same cylinders that were in the building on Batuu, and the remnants of what was left in their first captured freighters cargo hold. Confirming Thrawn’s suspicions that they are trying to close off this area's hyperspace lanes.
With the addition of the new Grysk prisoners aboard the Chimera, Vader and Thrawn hatch a plan to discover the origins of the Grysk. They decide to allow the Grysk to think they have escaped so that they can get them to input their destination into one of the ships aboard the Chimera. They then decided to keep the plan a secret from the crew of the Chimera so as not to tip off the Grysk about their plan.
However, due to the need for secrecy and the unfortunate coincidence that the Commander of the First Legion, Commander Kimmund. was in the ship the Grysk were attempting to steal they were thwarted before they could escape and the destination they input into the ships computer was just to their current hunting ground and not their planet of origin.
In true Thrawn style though he uses this failure to learn more about the Grysks and how they think and strategise. What he ends up determining from this encounter is that Grysk warriors have their teeth replaced with false teeth molds that store everything from weapons, to lock picks, and high frequency communications devices in the event that they are captured. He also determines that they are at least somewhat familiar with Imperial ship designs as they opted to try and escape aboard the closest ship available rather than their own ship.
With the location of the Grysk hunting ground revealed The Chimera sets a course to that region of space in the hopes they can capture the Grysk unaware and determine their point of origin and the disturbance in the Force. Upon arrival they see a Grysk freighter attempting to tow a large moon into the hyperspace lane. Confirming Thrawn's theory that they are attempting to isolate this region of space from a major incursion from the Empire. Thrawn orders his crew to ready positions as they wait for the freighter to be fully immersed in the moon’s gravity well so that it cannot escape. Upon capturing the freighter it is revealed that the Grysk have kidnapped Chiss children aboard, all of which happen to be female.
With this revelation Vader then demands Thrawn reveal all that he knows about why the Grysk would have Chiss children on board. Reluctant at first he finally gives into Vader’s demands. He explains that the Unknown regions of space do not have clear hyperspace routes and that the inhabitants of the region use short micro jumps to get from place to place. This however makes it very difficult and time consuming to cover large distances essentially ensuring their isolation from the core of the Empire and that because of this limitation his people do not have traditional navigation computers in their starships like those the Empire has.
He then reveals that Chiss children are in fact highly Force sensitive. Especially the girls and that as they age they lose their connection to the Force and despite his people’s best efforts they do not know why. However, these children, being as Force sensitive as they are, essentially have the ability of precognition. Thrawn then explains they use the Force to navigate the ships through hyperspace! Another fun fact that he mentions is that the word the Chiss use for the Force sensitive children when translated to Galactic Basic means “Skywalker” and that when he first met Anakin Skywalker his name came as quite a surprise to Thrawn. Vader merely marks it as a solution to a puzzle he had been contemplating since his initial meeting of Thrawn all those years ago.
With the children aboard and Vader having touched their minds with the Force they determine the origin of the Grysks species. Thrawn then convinces Vader to use the Force to guide them to the Grysk’s location. Upon arrival they capture the freighter that had escaped and save the remaining children. However, during the battle two important events happen. Firstly, Thrawn reveals himself to the Grysk as Mitth'raw'nuruodo of the Chiss Ascendancy and that if they attempt to take any more Chiss children they will be destroyed by the Ascendancy. Second is that during the battle there is a Chiss ship that is lurking in the background watching the battle unfold. When Vader attempts to follow they flee and escape.
Vader thinking that he finally has proof that Thrawn is not loyal confronts Thrawn about how he addressed the aliens and about the Chiss spaceship that he saw. To which Thrawn replies to the accusation stating that he addressed the Grysk as he did because as they had learned earlier the Grysk will attack their closest threat first. Meaning that because the Chiss are closer to the Grysk than the Empire the Grysk will attack the Chiss first giving the Empire more time to prepare for their inevitable attack of the Empire. Only slightly satisfied with that Vader asks about the Chiss ship that he saw during the battle. Thrawn postulates that they may be in league with the Grysk and that in fact this is probably how they were able to obtain Chiss children in the first place. In the past they had always been able to rally together for the common good of their people and Thrawn comments that this doesn’t bode well for the Chiss Ascendancy and seems to indicate a division within the Ascendancy. Thrawn then mentions that he also hopes that the Chiss ship heard his announcement to the Grysk and will take that information home to the Ascendancy to give them a fighting chance for what is to come. While redeeming themselves for the deal they made with the Grysk.
The Clone War rages on. Senator Padmé Amidala has received a communication from one of her oldest and most trusted handmaidens/friends Duja that the Separatists have a secret in the far outer rim region of space. Without wasting too much time she informs Anakin of the communication that she received and that she will be leaving A.S.A.P. to meet up with Duja. Anakin is unable to accompany her as there is a coming battle that he must attend to and even mentions that if only Ahsoka hadn’t left the Jedi Order her would have been able to leave her to the battle.
Once Padmé arrives on Batuu things get more complicated as she discovers her friend has been killed under suspicious circumstances. Finding a hidden key to Duja’s ship that was hidden in her hair clip, she discovers that on a the nearby planet of Mokivj the Separatists have a top secret Factory that needs to be investigated. With no mention of what the factory is making she decides to proceed to the planet in Duja’s ship to see if she can confirm her friends findings and hopefully ensure her friend didn’t die in vain.
Meanwhile Anakin returns from the battle and becomes concerned that he has received no communication from Padmé despite her promise to send him a message when she arrived at the planet. Anakin then decides, in true Anakin Skywalker form, that he will go to Batuu without the consent of the Jedi Council to locate and rescue her if need be. Upon arrival he meets a mysterious ship in orbit. The occupants offer to aid him in his mission. The mysterious person is none other than Mitth'raw'nuruodo (Thrawn) himself. After searching the planet and thwarting an attack, specifically designed for Jedi, from a previously unknown species called the Grysk they question the sole survivor of their attackers and determine that Padmé is no longer on the planet and that she is instead on the nearby planet of Mokivj. The pair steal a ship from their attackers and proceed to the planet to see if they can locate and rescue Padmé.
Once on the planet and reunited with Padmé. They discover that the Separatists are creating a new version of Super Battle Droids that are impervious to blaster fire and have the effect of completely disabling Lightsabers! During their investigation they find that the Separatists have found a rare new mineral called Cortosis that when woven together into an armour makes them impervious to blaster fire and lightsabers. However, Anakin notices that there is also about a dozen Republic Stormtrooper armours with the same cortosis weave. His immediate fear is that they are trying to somehow infiltrate the Republic from within. However, it’s revealed in the NOW part of the book by Vader that the factory was in fact being overseen by Emperor Palpatine himself. He was preparing his army to execute Order 66 and this force was meant to be the strike team that invaded the Jedi Temple.
Fearing that this new droid will tip the scales of battle in favour of the Separatists Anakin sets out to destroy the factory to put a halt to the droids production. However, Thrawn convinces him that they should instead reprogram a flaw in the droids so that his enemy would be unaware until it was too late. Anakin at first agrees to this but then after battling with some of the droids and dealing with the overseer of the operation decides that it is better to destroy the factory and the mining operation completely despite Thrawn and Padmé’s protests. He has Padmé, with the help of some locals that she befriended, get everyone out of the factory and the mine before he destroys them. Unfortunately due to the chemical makeup of the Cortosis, and the way in which it disperses energy, when Anakin blows up the mine the explosion is multiplied tenfold causing the ground to split and for the planet to spew magma and lava destroying the planet and it’s habitat.
During the mission Thrawn’s true mission is also revealed. He is to gain access to the Separatists facility on Mokivj to steal a compact field generator. Stating that the Chiss Ascendancy wanted to reverse engineer it as they had been unable to create something that compact that was able to produce a shield of that size and power. He is successful in obtaining the shield generator with Padme’s help. After obtaining the generator he appears to abandon Padmé and Anakin. However, once he secures the generator he returns to help Anakin finish his mission, stating that his allegiance was to the Chiss Ascendency and that once his obligation was fulfilled he chose to come back and help of his own free will. With both men’s missions complete Thrawn departed for his home. Leaving Anakin and Padmé to return to the Republic.
Now:
The Emperor has felt a disturbance in the Force in a far and remote region of the Outer Rim near the unknown wilds of space on the planet of Batuu. The very planet that a young Mitth'raw'nuruodo and Anakin Skywalker had met previously. Now they return as Grand Admiral Thrawn and Darth Vader, the Emperor’s two most trusted agents, tasked with destroying whatever is causing the disturbance. As always, the Emperor is using this mission to his advantage. He wants to validate Thrawn’s declared allegiance to the Empire and to test Darth Vader’s absolute loyalty.
During this entire section of the book they hint at the fact that Thrawn suspects, despite being told by the Emperor that Anakin Skywalker had died during the Clone Wars, that Darth Vader is in fact Anakin. There are several moments where Thrawn tries to bait Vader into admitting who he really is. Vader doesn’t take the bait. However, towards the end of the book during the space battle while Thrawn is watching Vader fly he witnesses him perform a manoeuvre that he had only ever seen one other pilot perform. Confirming his suspicions that Vader is in fact Anakin. When Thrawn gives one last attempt to reveal Vader as Anakin. Vader replies coldly and with finality that “Anakin Skywalker is dead” to which Thrawn replies with a knowing and forlorn “I know”.
At the same time throughout this part of the book Vader is constantly looking for any sign that Thrawn is not in fact loyal to the Empire but is instead still and Agent of the Chiss Ascendancy. He also takes every opportunity to point out Thrawn’s failure at Atollon. I feel like Zahn is doing a bit of backstory building to explain the dramatic shift that we saw in Thrawn’s tactics at the Battle of Lothal at the end of the Rebels series. Honestly though it does get a bit repetitive as the real crux of the problem is that as usual Thrawn asks for Vader to trust him in regards to certain aspects that don’t seem outright obvious to the casual observer. Which Vader is reluctant to do as he has reservations about Thrawn’s loyalties to begin with and to a degree is jealous of his relationship with the Emperor.
Enroute to their destination, using the hyperspace lane they had used during the Clone Wars, they are pulled out of Hyperspace by a gravity well warning. However, once in real space they cannot locate what tripped the safety feature. Thrawn postulates that there is perhaps a device that simulates a gravity well. Vader counters that there is nothing on the sensors and that anything that can produce that amount of power would be unable to cloak itself as well. After several unsuccessful attempts to get around whatever is blocking them. They are then forced to to take the long way around to the system despite it delaying their mission by several hours.
Upon arriving they leave hyperspace far from the planet so as not to alert anyone of their presence. Thrawn and Vader even go so far as to use a seemingly derelict ship The Dark Hawk that Thrawn keeps aboard his Star Destroyer Chimera for infiltration to the planet surface. While they are investigating the disturbance they discover that the Grysk, have essentially taken over the planet. While simultaneously employing the Darshi who were the unofficial big fish before the Grysk. While not outright oppressing the locals they are essentially in charge as they have bought up most of the supplies, pressed the local thugs into service, and their ships take up all the available bays at the spaceport. Effectively denying visitors/traders a place to dock.
They also notice three new buildings just outside of Black Spire that were not there when they had previously been to the planet during the Clone Wars. Thrawn keenly observes that they have also carefully integrated part of a communications array into one of the petrified trees, the trees that Black Spire derives its name from. They then determine that the other two communications arrays in the triad must be located in the building and in an old abandoned starship just outside of town.
They then proceed to Black Spire Outpost to the same cantina from all those years ago. While they’re inquiring about the local gossip Vader briefly senses the disturbance although it quickly disappears and he is unable to locate it. At the same time Vader and Thrawn are attacked by the Darshi thugs. They utilise a very sophisticated attack that combined personal cloaking devices with a type of bioengineered insect that explodes on contact and forms a permacrete type substance that immobilises the victim without killing them. While fighting their attackers a massive explosion is felt/heard somewhere outside the bar. After thwarting their attackers and investigating the explosion they discover that one of the three buildings that they had seen on the way in had been leveled. Searching the other two buildings doesn’t reveal much other than several metal cylindrical containers and what appear to be miniature hibernation pods.
During the ambush on the planet’s surface Thrawn’s ship informs him that two new freighters have come out of hyperspace one stayed waiting in orbit above the planet with the other headed to the planet surface. Vader then orders the First Legion to capture the freighter and discover its purpose and point of origin. Much to the protest of Thrawn who thinks it unwise to reveal themselves to their enemy until they know more. During the battle they are met with minimal resistance at first but then despite the best efforts of the Chimera Attack Fighters and The First Legion boarding party one of the freighters escapes to hyperspace and the other is scuttled by the Grysk crew, killing themselves in the process rather than be taken captive, keeping their point of origin and motives a secret. The mission is not a complete failure however, as the boarding party was able to get the drop on 3 of the Grysk and take them as captives. Thrawn also points out that despite the destruction of the bridge and cargo hold that there is still much to be learned from the freighter even if it’s contents were destroyed.
Thrawn comes up with a plan to draw their enemy out of hiding, to capture them and their ship before they can destroy themselves. Thrawn does this by returning to the hyperspace lane that they had tried to use on the way into the Batuu region of space. Only this time he kept coming at it from different angles to map it’s outer asymmetrical perimeter. Which he ultimately used to determine the source of the gravity well mystery.
After disabling the gravity well and bringing it aboard the ship for analysis Thrawn determines that the chemical makeup is the same as that of what was left in the cargo hold of the captured Grysk freighter and what they had seen in the building on Batuu. It’s also revealed that this Gravity Well Project in fact does have a cloaking mechanism and that the way it is able to handle the energy transfer is that it’s made of the same Cortosis material that the droids were made from all those years ago during the Clone Wars. Thrawn then deduces that the Grysk are trying to close off hyperspace travel to an unknown region of the Galaxy. Their reason why is as of yet unknown.
Thrawn then concocts a plan to use the Dark Hawk to draw out the Grysk by doing a hyperspace-jump to the next gravity well projector in the line. Deducing that the Grysk had seen the Star Destroyer Chimera and assessed their combat ability the first time they came through the area. Thrawn hopes to lure the Grysk from their hiding with a smaller and seemingly easier target. Which he was successful in achieving with the Dark Hawk’s unassuming nature. The First Legion successfully takes the ship without them being able to scuttle it and taking most of the crew as prisoners.
Once successful in capturing the ship, it's crew and contents. They find the same cylinders that were in the building on Batuu, and the remnants of what was left in their first captured freighters cargo hold. Confirming Thrawn’s suspicions that they are trying to close off this area's hyperspace lanes.
With the addition of the new Grysk prisoners aboard the Chimera, Vader and Thrawn hatch a plan to discover the origins of the Grysk. They decide to allow the Grysk to think they have escaped so that they can get them to input their destination into one of the ships aboard the Chimera. They then decided to keep the plan a secret from the crew of the Chimera so as not to tip off the Grysk about their plan.
However, due to the need for secrecy and the unfortunate coincidence that the Commander of the First Legion, Commander Kimmund. was in the ship the Grysk were attempting to steal they were thwarted before they could escape and the destination they input into the ships computer was just to their current hunting ground and not their planet of origin.
In true Thrawn style though he uses this failure to learn more about the Grysks and how they think and strategise. What he ends up determining from this encounter is that Grysk warriors have their teeth replaced with false teeth molds that store everything from weapons, to lock picks, and high frequency communications devices in the event that they are captured. He also determines that they are at least somewhat familiar with Imperial ship designs as they opted to try and escape aboard the closest ship available rather than their own ship.
With the location of the Grysk hunting ground revealed The Chimera sets a course to that region of space in the hopes they can capture the Grysk unaware and determine their point of origin and the disturbance in the Force. Upon arrival they see a Grysk freighter attempting to tow a large moon into the hyperspace lane. Confirming Thrawn's theory that they are attempting to isolate this region of space from a major incursion from the Empire. Thrawn orders his crew to ready positions as they wait for the freighter to be fully immersed in the moon’s gravity well so that it cannot escape. Upon capturing the freighter it is revealed that the Grysk have kidnapped Chiss children aboard, all of which happen to be female.
With this revelation Vader then demands Thrawn reveal all that he knows about why the Grysk would have Chiss children on board. Reluctant at first he finally gives into Vader’s demands. He explains that the Unknown regions of space do not have clear hyperspace routes and that the inhabitants of the region use short micro jumps to get from place to place. This however makes it very difficult and time consuming to cover large distances essentially ensuring their isolation from the core of the Empire and that because of this limitation his people do not have traditional navigation computers in their starships like those the Empire has.
He then reveals that Chiss children are in fact highly Force sensitive. Especially the girls and that as they age they lose their connection to the Force and despite his people’s best efforts they do not know why. However, these children, being as Force sensitive as they are, essentially have the ability of precognition. Thrawn then explains they use the Force to navigate the ships through hyperspace! Another fun fact that he mentions is that the word the Chiss use for the Force sensitive children when translated to Galactic Basic means “Skywalker” and that when he first met Anakin Skywalker his name came as quite a surprise to Thrawn. Vader merely marks it as a solution to a puzzle he had been contemplating since his initial meeting of Thrawn all those years ago.
With the children aboard and Vader having touched their minds with the Force they determine the origin of the Grysks species. Thrawn then convinces Vader to use the Force to guide them to the Grysk’s location. Upon arrival they capture the freighter that had escaped and save the remaining children. However, during the battle two important events happen. Firstly, Thrawn reveals himself to the Grysk as Mitth'raw'nuruodo of the Chiss Ascendancy and that if they attempt to take any more Chiss children they will be destroyed by the Ascendancy. Second is that during the battle there is a Chiss ship that is lurking in the background watching the battle unfold. When Vader attempts to follow they flee and escape.
Vader thinking that he finally has proof that Thrawn is not loyal confronts Thrawn about how he addressed the aliens and about the Chiss spaceship that he saw. To which Thrawn replies to the accusation stating that he addressed the Grysk as he did because as they had learned earlier the Grysk will attack their closest threat first. Meaning that because the Chiss are closer to the Grysk than the Empire the Grysk will attack the Chiss first giving the Empire more time to prepare for their inevitable attack of the Empire. Only slightly satisfied with that Vader asks about the Chiss ship that he saw during the battle. Thrawn postulates that they may be in league with the Grysk and that in fact this is probably how they were able to obtain Chiss children in the first place. In the past they had always been able to rally together for the common good of their people and Thrawn comments that this doesn’t bode well for the Chiss Ascendancy and seems to indicate a division within the Ascendancy. Thrawn then mentions that he also hopes that the Chiss ship heard his announcement to the Grysk and will take that information home to the Ascendancy to give them a fighting chance for what is to come. While redeeming themselves for the deal they made with the Grysk.
“Thrawn Alliances” is not just for fans of Thrawn or Vader. If you’re a fan of Star Wars, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of this book whenever you can.
About the reviewer: Justin Ward
I have been a fan of Star Wars since I was about 5 years old (1990). My dad was watching Return of The Jedi on television one Sunday afternoon. From the moment I saw Luke Skywalker’s Lightsaber illuminate I was hooked. I made my mother rent the other two movies for me and then once I had memorised them front to back I desperately started looking for anything and everything remotely related to Star Wars. That was when I found the Extended Universe and all of the amazing novels that had been written. The rest as they say is history. Happy reading and May the Force be with you!
About the reviewer: Justin Ward
I have been a fan of Star Wars since I was about 5 years old (1990). My dad was watching Return of The Jedi on television one Sunday afternoon. From the moment I saw Luke Skywalker’s Lightsaber illuminate I was hooked. I made my mother rent the other two movies for me and then once I had memorised them front to back I desperately started looking for anything and everything remotely related to Star Wars. That was when I found the Extended Universe and all of the amazing novels that had been written. The rest as they say is history. Happy reading and May the Force be with you!