With the larger threat of the Far Outsiders, ever present in his mind, Thrawn continued
to work towards a unified galactic government, which could be militarized in anticipating
of the coming invasion.
In addition to the remnants of the Empire, now largely under his control, he possessed
the ability to clone an army, and so was in need of ships for his new personnel.
After their defeat at Sluis Van,* Thrawn ordered his first officer Gilad Pellaeon to reach
out to the criminal underworld and offer 20% above market value for any armed ships over
100 thousand tons.
With his numbers now steadily growing, Thrawn increased his attacks against the new republic,
raiding convoys along major trade routes.
He also sought to destabilize their government by planting evidence against Supreme Commander
Gial Ackbar, leading to his arrest, on charges of treason.
This then allowed for Ackbar’s political rival Borsk Fey'lya to take command, dividing
the loyalties of the Defense Fleet.
And while Thrawn was succeeding with many of his plans, he was still having trouble
capturing Luke and Leia for his temporary ally, Jedi Master Joruus C'baoth.
Starting to have doubts about the loyalty of the Noghri, who led his commando units,
he personally went to their homeworld where he discover that Khabarakh, one of their warriors
may have betrayed the Empire.
Khabarakh, having discovered that Leia was the daughter of Darth Vader, believed his
loyalty must first be to descendant of their savior, and helped her come to their planet
and try to sway the Noghri against the Empire.
After the arrest of the traitor, Thrawn left their world and went to Endor searching for
the Milenium Flacon.
While in the system he met with Mara Jade, who had been captured by Imperial forces,
but used her former rank as the Emperor’s Hand to get the meeting.
In an attempt to have him remove the bounty of 20,000 credits, on her friend Talon Karrde,
she told him that they could offer the location of the legendary Katana Fleet, 200 slave-rigged
Dreadnaughts which would serve him greatly in the battles ahead.
Thrawn agreed to the deal, but would not leave it to chance, and so secretly tracked Mara’s
ship when she departed, using her to find and capture Karrde.
Mara Jade was furious for his betrayal of their agreement, and attacked thrawn with
her force powers.
However his Noghri bodyguard Rukh quickly intervened and she relented.
Thrawn, then tried to renegotiate their deal, saying that once they gave him the information
about the fleet, they’d be allowed to go free.
But Mara no longer had any trust left in the Empire, believing it was not the same government
she once served, and so left to go find Luke Skywalker, and enlisted his help in rescuing
Karrde.
Although they were able to free him, before he could reveal the location of the Katana
Fleet, Thrawn had a backup plan, tracking down a smuggler named Hoffner who also knew
where they could be found.
However, Talon Karrde was now working with the New Republic, and so both factions learned
of the fleet’s location.
Yet it was the empire’s forces which arrived first, able to capture all but 15 of the ships.
A battle soon erupted over the remaining vessels, but Thrawn was unable to aid his forces due
to the Jedi Master Joruus C’Boath, who demanded an immediate audience and used his force powers
to prevent Thrawn from leaving.
As a result the Empire lost the battle and was forced into retreat.
Nevertheless, they captured the vast majority of the Dreadnaught fleet, and so Thrawn was
now prepared to launch a final campaign towards victory.
Although confident he would succeed, he also understood nothing was guaranteed, and so
put in place a number of contingency plans in the event of his defeat.
One such plan was to have a special clone of himself prepared in a secret location,
who could continue his efforts to secure the galaxy after his death.
He also scattered a number of sleeper clones throughout New Republic and Imperial space,
which could be used in the future as a resistance army against the far outsiders, if both galactic
governments should fall.
With his contingencies in place, Thrawn went on the offensive, capturing the planet of
Ukio and many others.
With Admiral Ackbar having been reinstated to his position, the New Republic regrouped
and tried to counter-strike against the Empire, targeting their Shipyards to slow down their
manufacturing capabilities.
Meanwhile, Talon Karrde, was working to create an alliance of smugglers to aid the New Republic
in their struggle.
Thrawn, now ready to push into the core worlds, captured Mrisst and laid siege to Coruscant,
placing 22 cloaked asteroids around the planet, while giving the impression there were many
more, forcing them to keep their planetary defense shields activated, and preventing
them from leaving the planet.
In order to lift the siege, the New Republic required a crystal gravfield trap, making
a plan to capture one from an imperial shipyard.
While capturing Xa Fel, Thrawn learned of an attack against Tangrene, but suspected
it was a misdirect, instead ordering his forces to the Bilbringi shipyard where the real assault
was occurring.
Although Imperial forces were well positioned to destroy the enemy fleet, the smuggler’s
alliance led by Talon Karrde soon arrived and came to the aide of the New Republic.
Nevertheless, Thrawn might have been victorious in this battle, had it not been for the betrayal
of the Noghri.
After leaving the Noghri homeworld, Leia Organa had presented evidence that the Empire had
been poisoning their planet, to make them dependent and keep them subjugated.
And so they pledged themselves to help Leia Organa, joining Luke and Mara Jade on a mission
to the planet Wayland, where they confronted Joruus C’boath and killed the mad jedi.
While on board the Chimaera, commanding at the battle of Bilbringi, Thrawn learned of
all that had occurred on Wayland, but it was too late, as his Noghri bodyguard Rukh stabbed
him through the chest.
Declaring that the Noghri had been avenged, Rukh tried to make his way off the ship, but
was killed by Imperial forces.
With Thrawn dead, Pellaeon had no choice but to order retreat, giving victory to the New
Republic.
Although the Empire continued on for a time, without a strong central ruler like Thrawn
they largely fell to infighting, and by 11ABY had lost most of the gains achieved by the
Chiss Commander.
In 18 ABY, Gilad Pellaeon, once again went to war with the New Republic but was defeated,
leading to the signing of a peace treaty the following year.
Meanwhile Thrawn’s clone continued to grow, while the Empire of the Hand awaited the return
of their leader, having been told that he would reappear 10 years after his death.
However the clone was involuntarily destroyed by Mara Jade and Luke Skywalker, when they
entered the facility and activated the defense systems.
The Empire of the Hand meanwhile, attempted to go forward, honoring the legacy of Thrawn
by continuing to prepare their sector of space for the invasion of the Far Outsiders.
However with their leader dead, and his clone destroyed, they soon diminished in power,
and disbanded.
And so in 25 ABY, when at last the Far Outsiders, also known as the Yuzan Vong invaded the galaxy,
they found only a weakened New Republic, and a shattered Imperial Remnant, quickly able
to overpower their both and bring utter devastation upon the galaxy.
Many years later in 55 ABY, as a result of all that had occurred, the Imperial partisan
and polemicist Lenang O'Pali wrote about Thrawn: "I am baffled by critics who accept Mitth'raw'nuruodo's
account of his discussion with Palpatine about the Far Outsiders, yet refuse to revise their
opinions about either man.
They ignore what Mitth'raw'nuruodo reported Palpatine believed: that the weak Republic
would be defeated by the Vong, and had to be reforged into an orderly, militarized society
able to resist them.
They refuse to consider the possibility that the Empire's apparent brutality and ruthlessness
were necessary parts of preparing for that terrible war.
Why do they refuse to do so?
Because that would lead them to the only logical conclusion: that Palpatine was right."