Mitth'raw'nuruodo

The Rakatan Archipelago had gone through thousands of years of peace and without active war, they became complacent. It was ruled by the Rakata descendants who had fled from the Infinite Empire before its collapse. They fled with their slaves, technology and various other things. However many of the tribes which ended up surviving weren't extremely technologically savvy.

Many of them regressed in technology and cultural behavior. The force hounds were still a thing, but they were never able to get the resources to mount another attack on the known Galaxy.

Even then two of the solar systems within the archipelago had space stations known to be similar to that of the original Star Forge. Massive factories which took in the energy of stars as resources and made endless robotic armies and massive armadas.

The only downside to these stations was that they were semi-sentient, which meant they were capable of some form of thought. This was due to the nature of being related to Alchemy and having been made with it. Just like the original one, these Star Forge stations would often try and gain control of those whom wished to use them. The more you used it, the closer you delved into its secrets, the more it would try to use you in return.

Valad knew all of this and his first stop would be to these stations. The only problem which was now persisting was the fact that he was now entering Unknown Regions. The chiss were known for expanding into resource rich worlds and battling the xenocultures throughout the uncharted systems.

The last thing he expected was the fact that he would run into a familiar face. Yet another fateful encounter which completely made him blank to the face.

Standing on the bridge of the Imperious, Valad was staring into the red eyes of a tall mature commander. A brilliant strategist and even greater foe should they one day cross one another. This however made it rather clear that he could turn this man in his favor.

Valad knew of the threat beyond the Galaxy which was coming to invade. He also knew that the outbound flight would have to be stopped before it was too late. Thankfully they had years to plan for that.

Now he just needed to take care of the present.

Just lightyears away from the Archipelago, the Imperious had been pulled out of Hyperspace. Much to their surprise, they had been surrounded by a couple of Chiss Destroyers, far different from the design he had used.

It appeared they were using an interdictor field to keep them in place. This was interfering with the Hyperspace protocols which would normally take ships out of hyperspace should a Shadow Mass be detected in their path.

He however only had to switch off the safety and could be on his way, abide there would be quite a large amount of damage from doing so. Even an artificial Shadow Mass could cause problems for on board instruments.

"Unidentified Vessel, you are now entering Rakatan Space. Hostile Alien forces are present..." The one known as Mitth'raw'nuruodo or Thrawn simply stared out the viewport of his own destroyer at the massive twenty two kilometer long vessel. His eyes were tracing over the several hangar bays and thousands of weapons emplacements.

The first thing Thrawn noticed without even relying on the preliminary scans of the vessel, was that there were MASER weapons on the ship. The armor on the hull was also something to gander at. Since when did such a masterpiece exist?

Mitth'raw'nuruodo narrowed his eyes on the projection of the human teenager which had answered the hail. His red eyes analyzed the boy, scrutinized him. He could tell he was a force user, a powerful one. His posture spoke legions. Yet when he met with his eyes, it was like looking into the Abyss, he was looking right back at him.

"Mitth'raw'nuruodo," Valad spoke the name fluently without a mistake in speaking the name. Something which most chiss would be impressed by as they usually told off worlders and non-chiss that their names were too hard for them to say. "Or do you prefer Thrawn?"

The Commander of the Expansion Fleet blinked a few times hearing this. He was surprised which was something that was rare. "Thrawn, is fine." He gave a simple response, while he could tell that this boy was abnormal, he could tell he had his reasons. On top of that, where did he learn his name?

"Will you let us pass?" Valad inquired with his head tilted to the side. His posture told Thrawn that he knew what he was walking into.

The Chiss cupped his chin slightly, as if he were in thought. "Who do you serve?"

"Myself," this response made the red eyed, blue skinned, alien widen its eyes. This boy obtained such a large ship and he was in command of it? This was a marvel, but how would he fend against the extragalactic threat looming over the galaxy.

"You must kno–" He was cut off when Valad raised his hand, he recognized the glint in the boy's eye. He knew what he was about to say. He knew about the enemy at the edge of their galaxy, the Vong. "How much do you know?"

"Plenty of the Far Outsiders." Valad gave a simple, roundabout, answer. "Now let us pass. Our destination is the Archipelago." He informed the Chiss who seemed rather surprised that a child such as this knew the name of the political sphere he was entering. Especially since he seemed to be from the known Galaxy and not the uncharted regions.

"As a gift, I shall grant you a little bit of culture from my favorite philosopher... If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle." Valad quotes Sun Tzu, ending the transmission before the Chiss had enough time to respond.

Within moments the Interdictor field was down, allowing the Imperious to jump right back into hyperspace once the Chiss vessels cleared the path. It was clear they hadn't been able to expand in the Rakatan territory, or they were just wary of it.

Valad made his way over to the command chair and flopped down upon it. Leaning his head back and covering his eyes with the back of his forearm. It was as if he had just gone through a workout. His nerves were everywhere. He had completely feinted the Chiss, though he did know plenty of the Vong, including on how to sense them through the force by using Telepathy.