Author's foreword: Welp, here it is, the fanfic I've been on working since Rebels ended at long last comes to , and probably AO3 in the near future.

I wrote this for a bunch of reasons, my disillusionment with The Last Jedi, my disappointment with Resistance, the fact I had zero interest in Episode 9 and also that I really wanted to know what happened to Ezra and Thrawn after the finale. Pretty much the only Star Wars related thing I have any interest in right now is finding out what happened to the Chimaera, and that's what this story is about. I just asked myself "what would I like to see from a Rebels sequel?" And I put all of that in here. Star Wars: Ascendancy is a continuation of Ezra's story, and a detailed account of his journey through the Unknown Regions. It is also a continuation of Thrawn's story, as he tries to balance his dual allegiances, and prevent the Ascendancy from tearing itself apart while enacting the Emperor's plans for the Unknown Regions. Old friends and new allies will appear for both the Jedi and the Grand Admiral, and there are always more enemies to be identified, faced and vanquished, especially in this unexplored part of space...

Displaced is the first part of Ascendancy, detailing the journey to the Chiss Ascendancy where the story really takes off. This story functions as a sequel to Rebels but it also sort of functions as a sequel to the two canon Thrawn novels, and features Commodore Faro, a character from those books, quite prominently.

If you have criticisms, be civil and be constructive. I put a lot of work into this story, and I really hope you enjoy it, and if you read it, please do give me feedback, I'd really love to hear what you have to say.

Oh, and keep an eye out for Legends material, there's going to be a lot of Legends references in this story.

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away...

STAR WARS: ASCENDANCY

"Whatever happens now, happens to both of us..."

"Grand Admiral? Are you alright? Grand Admiral!"

Thrawn slowly opened his eyes to the sight of the Chimaera's bridge in chaos. Fire and sparks sputtered from every direction as Imperial personnel scrambled to douse the flames. The klaxon alarm wailed in the background as personnel ran in and out of the bridge, Thrawn turned to see Commodore Faro, his second in command, attempting to rouse him from his unconsciousness.

"I am alright, Commodore."

Faro breathed a sigh of relief as she helped Thrawn to his feet. After dusting himself off he took a closer look around the bridge. Blast shields had shut over the broken windows, protecting them from being dragged into space. His eyes then focused on the source of the Chimaera's woes. Ezra Bridger was out cold, presumably knocked unconscious during the Chimaera's violent exit from Lothal's Atmosphere. Faro looked haggard, her uniform was ruffled and creased she was covered in bruises. Clearly nobody had come out of the Battle of Lothal unscathed.

"Commodore Faro, damage report" Thrawn said to her, almost as if nothing had happened. Faro looked over her datapad. "Bad, Sir, numerous systems have suffered a critical failure. Most of the fighters are intact, as are the engines. However our shielding, weaponry, sensors, long range communications, and other systems have taken a beating. As for the bridge... well, see for yourself." Faro added grimly. "Permission to speak freely Sir?"

"Permission granted, Commodore." Thrawn said, nodding to an officer who handed the Grand Admiral the blaster he had dropped during the battle. Thrawn placed it back in it's holster.

"What.. exactly happened, Grand Admiral? I was just finishing the duty roster on the secondary bridge, and then all of a sudden it felt like... like an earthquake had just started on the ship. As soon as the alarms went off I rushed up here and I saw you, the Jedi, and several of the crew lying unconscious and now we're out in deep space and Lothal is nowhere in sight."

"I'm not sure you would believe me if I told you, Commodore." Thrawn said dryly.

"We've been through a lot together sir. What could possibly have happened?"

"The Jedi summoned spacefaring creatures unknown to us, then used the force to command them to drag us into hyperspace." Faro's eyes widened in shock, as the absurd explanation sank in.

"It sounds ridiculous, I know, but I can vouch for it, I'm quite proud of it, actually." Another voice chided in.

She looked like she was about to say something when the Jedi in question started to pick himself up off the floor. The young Jedi wobbled as he struggled to find his footing, but eventually managed to stand up straight. Faro glared at Ezra as she raised her blaster at the Jedi that had just wrecked her ship. Thrawn motioned for her to lower her weapon as he merely stepped passed her and began to speak with Ezra.

"Ezra Bridger, my apologies, in all the commotion I nearly forgot you were here." Thrawn sounded was completely unphased by the events that had just transpired. "First, I must apologise, I sincerely underestimated the abilities of the Jedi, I'm genuinely impressed at the trickery you were able to pull off against an entire imperial fleet.."

"Hey, don't thank me," Ezra said dismissively. "Thank the Purrgil, if it weren't for them we wouldn't be standing here right now." Ezra said with a smirk, clearly satisfied with himself, and how his scheme had played out.

"Purrgil? I have never heard that name before, I presume that these would be the beasts that dragged us here?" Thrawn turned back towards Faro, "As a matter of fact. see if you can find out where exactly we are, Commodore."

"But sir, the Jedi," Faro protested. "He's right here!"

"Correct, but he has nowhere to run, he has no intention of running." Thrawn looked back at Ezra. "It is in the nature of the Jedi to sacrifice themselves for others, to commit to actions for the sake of others with little to no regard for their own safety. You had no intention of returning from this, did you?"

"Nope." Ezra said, smirking defiantly at Thrawn, "I told the Purrgil to drag us as far from Lothal as they possibly could, all I needed was to get you and the rest of your Imp cronies away from my home planet, if we die out here, I'll die happy." Ezra went into this knowing full well he probably wouldn't come back. This was the end goal, the end of his story, and Thrawn's. They'd both die out in the cold of space, never knowing what happened to Lothal or the Empire in the end.

Faro scowled at the boy, this was a suicide mission for him. He was going to go down and bring the entire Chimaera with them, it took all of her willpower to not just pull out her blaster shoot Ezra there and then.

"Commodore, our location?" Thrawn asked. Faro reluctantly stopped, and refocused on the task at hand. "Right, OK Grand Admiral" she said, her anger fading slightly, "I'll find out where we are." The crew of the Chimaera were some of the best the Empire had to offer, if this idiotic rebel boy thought they were just going to roll over, give up and die, he had another thing coming. They would get back to Imperial Space, and then they would go to Coruscant, and Faro would watch in great satisfaction as the Emperor executed this rebel scum personally.

"Anyways, you have a nice comfy cell I can relax in for a while?" Ezra asked sarcastically. He acted defiant, but was rubbing his shoulder, it still hurt from the hit from Thrawn's blaster bolt. "As I thought. You don't plan on escaping? Do you?" Thrawn asked back.

"I'm too tired to escape." Ezra replied. This was true, even if he had any intention of escaping, he was so fatigued that standing itself was a struggle, commanding the Purrgil, telling them where to go, and holding his whole Purrgil fleet together for an extended period of time had taken a lot out of him, not to mention the blaster burn on his shoulder.

"Fair enough, troopers, take our Jedi here to the med-bay, he clearly requires treatment." Thrawn ordered as a Death trooper picked himself off the floor and checked his comrades before standing to attention and nodding as he and a Stormtrooper put him over their shoulders. "What about you sir?" the stormtrooper asked. "I'm alright, thank you". Thrawn replied.

Faro continued to work with the navigations, by now she'd called in a technician or two to try get it running again. As Ezra was lead away the comm officer had gotten back up to his station. "Admiral! We're receiving a hail from the Judicator!" The comm officer said with relief. "She's coming up on our port side. Our main systems are still down so I'm patching the captain through to your comm sir." Thrawn's comm flickered to life as a familiar voice began to come through.

"Hello? Chimaera? Is anybody reading me? Hello? ISD Chimaera come in!"

"Captain Pellaeon, this is Grand Admiral Thrawn. We read you loud and clear". This was good news, if Thrawn was picking up Captain Pellaeon, him and his Star Destroyer, as well as the rest of the fleet probably weren't too far spread out. "Ah, Grand Admiral! It's good to hear from you, we feared the worst over here..." Pellaeon said grimly, "we can see the Chimaera out the window, how are you doing over there?"

"We're still alive, mostly. Some are wounded, but the ship seems to have taken the brunt of the damage." Thrawn told Pellaeon. "That's good to hear Grand Admiral, same story as the Judicator. So, I presume those creatures pulled you through hyperspace as well?"

"The Chimaera was the Jedi's primary target. But judging from what you have just told me, it would appear the Purrgil decided to take more of the Seventh Fleet as well."

"Oh they took more than just us sir, I can see two other Star Destroyers outside the window, I can't identify them though, we haven't been able to establish communications."

"Interesting..." Thrawn began to wonder just how much of the Seventh Fleet the Purrgil had dragged from Lothal. "Send boarding parties to the other two Star Destroyers, see if they survived and re-establish communication."

"Right away sir. Captain Pellaeon out." Thrawn put away his comm. "Sir, mapping systems are back online!" a technician called over to Thrawn. Faro was visibly relieved that they'd managed to actually make some progress. She switched on the navigational displays...

And her heart promptly sank when the map came on.

"I don't understand... I don't recognise any of these systems, where are we?" Faro said as she stared with confusion at an unfamiliar set of star systems.

"I do..." Thrawn said grimly as he took a step forward. "You recognise this system, Sir?" Faro asked. "Unfortunately... yes." Thrawn replied.

Thrawn stepped up to the holo projector. He keyed a few buttons in, and the holo-map zoomed out to a full map of the galaxy, a blinking red dot indicating the location of the Chimaera.

If Faro's heart hadn't sunk before, it certainly did now.

"The... Unknown... Regions..." Faro said with apprehension. The blinking red dot lingered there, taunting her, taunting all of them, every blip felt like a punch in the stomach as the reality of the situation sunk in.

"That's impossible..." Faro said, sounding less like she believed it, and more like she was trying to convince herself.

"The Unknown Regions..." Pellaeon pondered the situation, his moustache twitched as the words lingered in his mind. The Captain of Admiral Durril's former flagship (a ship he had shamefully abandoned after Batonn) was a recent addition to the Seventh Fleet, only joining after Atollon. He was a fairly straightforward Imperial Captain, but a good one nonetheless. He stood now at the rear of the bridge, at the holo-projector alongside projectsion of the fleet's command staff, listening to the technical reports on the fleets status. As he did so he glanced at the other commanders. Most were fairly experienced officers but this situation had shaken them all, nobody had ever seen anything quite like the creatures the Jedi called. All of them were shaken, except of course the Grand Admiral himself, who for some reason had taken a liking to Pellaeon, this was obvious when he placed him in command of the fleet during the battle of Lothal, but Pellaeon himself wasn't quite sure why..

"Have you managed to make a full assessment of the fleet yet?" Thrawn asked.

"Yes sir" His mind snapped back to the present, "The Star Destroyers we could see on our scanners have been identified as the Death's Head and the Inexorable, and they have now moved to meet us here, on top of that, we also made contact with the Stormhawk, the Bellicose, the Relentless and the Nemesis, those four, plus the Judicator and the Chimaera makes eight Star Destroyers in total." Pellaeon explained. "No sign of any of our smaller support ships, and no sign of the Peremptory."

"It is most likely that the Purrgil simply destroyed the escort ships when they were dragged through hyperspace. The Peremptory was destroyed at Lothal, I was there to witness the Purrgil ram through the bridge." Thrawn recalled. "A shame," Pellaeon said, "it was a good ship."

"Anyways, the fleet's communications have been restored, the Death's Head and the Inexorable are operational, even if their crews are shaken, and the rest of the fleet is ready for orders. We stand ready to return to Imperial Space at your order Admiral."

"I'm afraid that's not an option." Faro interjected, "The helm has been making calculations and it doesn't look like we all will have enough fuel to get back to Imperial space. Not to mention the anomalies and unknown gravity wells that have them spooked to even attempt a jump until they get the long range scanners back online."

"Not even to our most remote outposts? Not even to Bakura?" Pellaeon asked.

"Not even to Bakura..." Faro's words sounded like a funeral oration, "We start flying for Imperial space and we're going to simply stop dead before we get there. Or worse"

The conference was silent for a moment as they all pondered their options. Ezra really had seen this through to the end. Thrawn was the first to break the silence.

"No," Thrawn sighed, "We are not safe here, not at all, there are far too many threats lurking in this area of space, threats we will not be able to fight in our current weakened state."

"What about long range communications Grand Admiral? Could we contact any Imperial Stations?" Pellaeon asked.

"I'm afraid that's not an option either" Faro responded looking down at her datapad."Techs say it's the same problem, we don't have the rage to connect with even the most remote Holonet station." Faro told Pellaeon. Thrawn looked downwards, lost in thought for a moment, before finally deciding on a course of action. "We need to move, Pellaeon you are hereby assigned to act as the Fleet liaison officer between all ships and are to report to Commodore Faro." Thrawn turn to the side "Commodore, you will be retaking your role as the Chimaeras Captain and begin coordinating a fleet wide hyperspace jump." Thrawn ordered.

"But sir, where to? Like I said, we don't have enough fuel to return to Imperial space. There's nowhere for us to go Grand Admiral." Faro said.

"No, we have one option..." Thrawn replied, he sighed, almost in resignation, "Though I must admit, I did not want the Empire knowing the location of my people, but it is our only option for survival."

"Oh no, you don't mean..." Faro stopped as the realisation dawned on her of exactly where they were going.

"Commodore Faro, Captain Pellaeon..." Thrawn input some more commands into the projector, and another point was marked out within the Unknown Regions, no doubt their destination.

"Alert all commands, we are headed to the Chiss Ascendancy."

"The Chiss Ascendancy..." Faro muttered to herself.

"The Chiss Ascendancy? I presume that's where you're from, Grand Admiral?" Pellaeon asked. He was vaguely aware that the Grand Admiral had hailed from somewhere in the Unknown Regions, but that was about it.

"Correct, the Chiss Ascendancy is the native territory of the Chiss people, consisting of Csilla and it's colony worlds." Thrawn explained, "The journey will be long but I have complete confidence that we shall make it safely to their territory."

"How do you know they won't simply kill us to avoid the Empire finding them?" Faro asked.

"My people are above all, pragmatic, the risk of angering the Empire in such a way would not be worth the reward." Thrawn replied. "Besides, a hypothetical Imperial Invasion of the Chiss Ascendancy would be a logistical disaster, and it would be obvious to them from the outset that even if we wanted to attack them, we are in no state to do so."

"Then it's settled, we go to the Chiss Ascendancy." Faro said, not really sure of the plan herself. "But that doesn't solve the problem of how exactly we're going to get there." Pellaeon continued. This whole area is uncharted, and with all of these anomalies it could take months to chart a safe path for us to somewhere you might have a working knowledge of sir."

"I have a potential solution, though it is risky, and possibly could be construed as treasonous by some of you, but it will no doubt reduce the journeys length by weeks." He studied the officers faces before continuing. "Commodore Faro, do you remember the children the Chiss rescued from the Grysk near Batuu?"

Faro began to remember the incident near Batuu, and how the Chiss used force sensitive children to guide them through the Unknown Regions.

"You aren't seriously suggesting what I think you are, Sir? Are you?"

The doors closed behind him and Ezra yawned as he lay down in a cell in the Chimaera's brig. One thing that caught the entire Chimaera crew off-guard, except for the Grand Admiral, obviously, was just how little he actually cared about escaping, at least for now. The guards hadn't even bothered to lock the door, but from the damage he had seen on the way down it was plausible that they didn't have the power for the cell block security systems, they had to get the ship back up and running.

He was lost in space, on an enemy ship, with no lightsaber. He ached all over, and his shoulder still seared from the blaster burn. The past twenty four standard hours had taken so much out of him, and he was just happy to actually get a moment's rest. Everything from infiltrating the dome, to facing the Emperor, to controlling the Purrgil and directing them away from Lothal, had taken its toll on poor Ezra. He'd figure out some way out of this mess, but right now he was too tired to think...

"Did you direct your 'friends' to take us into the Unknown Regions deliberately or was that just a fortunate development?" a voice stirred him from his rest.

Ezra turned his head, and sat up to see Thrawn standing in the doorway of the cell, a Death Trooper standing at attention outside as he walked in. Thrawn was his usual cold, calculating self, if Ezra didn't know any better he would've never guessed what the Grand Admiral had just been through. Wait... did he say the Unknown Regions?

"No, no that wasn't my idea at all." Ezra said sitting up a little, "I just told the Purrgil to get this ship as far away from Lothal as possible."

The Unknown Regions? The Unknown Regions? Had they really been taken that far? "Wait, are we actually in the Unknown Regions?" Ezra asked. "I'm afraid so" Thrawn replied as he stepped down into the cell. "Far past the known boundaries of the Empire."

Ezra's mind began to race, he'd heard stories of the Unknown Regions, of strange sightings encountered by spacers on the edge of it's vast, murky depths, and now he was right in the middle of it. Too many emotions to count ran through his head as he processed the information. The fatigue began to fade away as his mind focused on the new information presented to him.

And when he realised the gravity of his situation, it hit him like an out of control TIE Fighter, barrelling straight towards him, and only one word came to the forefront of his mind. Only one verbal expression could possibly hope to express his shock.

"Karabast..."

"That is why I am here Bridger, to ask for your assistance." Thrawn said. "The Unknown Regions are treacherous, and filled with hyperspace anomalies. On top of that, the Chimaera's maps do not have records of this area, we will be travelling through uncharted space, and an individual with abilities such as yourself would be most beneficial to us."

Ezra almost laughed at the absurdity of the situation. Grand Admiral Thrawn, the man who was fully ready to blast his home to smithereens just a few hours ago and had tried on multiple occasions to destroy everything and everybody he loved, was now asking him for help.

"You expect me to help you? After everything you've done? No way, I'd rather just sit out here and die than help you." Ezra said, sitting back and folding his arms as he scowled at Thrawn, "If you get back to Imperial Space, you'll go back to Lothal and finish what you started."

"An admirable sacrifice, Jedi. But i'm afraid your services are required, and I believe we can help each other" Thrawn said.

Ezra had put up with so many grating, irritating and arrogant Imperial Officers, and had long become accustomed to the catharsis of watching their arrogance fade away in a sea of frustration as him and the Spectres ruined their plans. Which was why there was something infuriating about Thrawn, nothing phased him, ever, no matter how big the setback Thrawn simply got back up and carried on as he was. Ezra had just brought Thrawn's entire fleet crashing into the Unknown Regions and here he was, standing tall as if nothing had happened, politely asking for his assistance as if they hadn't been mortal enemies for years.

"Look, you can do whatever you want with me, I am not helping you." Ezra sneered.

"So you would honestly rather just die out here, never knowing what happened to the Rebellion, your friends, or Lothal?" Thrawn asked.

"Yep." Ezra shrugged.

Thrawn thought to himself for a moment, turning away and pacing around the cell. He had thought carefully as to how he was going to win Ezra over, and had a plan. Ezra cared for his friends, deeply, and would do anything to protect them. Trying to coerce or force Ezra to help him was futile, the Jedi would honestly rather die than give up his friends to the Empire.

Fortunately for the Imperials, as usual, Thrawn had a plan.

"I presume you are aware of the Empire's attitude towards non-humans?" Thrawn asked.

"Of course I do..." The Empire's xenophobic tendencies had long got under his skin. He'd seen far too many innocents suffer under the thumb of the Empire simply because they were born the wrong species.

"And yet you never stopped to ask as to exactly how I, a non-human, managed to achieve the highest rank in the Imperial Navy? Did you never stop to ask what species I am? And why you have never once seen another member of my species, or even what species I am?"

"I don't know, I always just assumed you were a Pantoran with an eye condition." Ezra's sarcastic remark was merely posturing though. Underneath he was actually asking that very same question, come to think of it, he had never seen another member of Thrawn's species, whatever it was, though Ezra had always just assumed Thrawn was simply from some far out obscure part of Imperial Space, some forgotten corner of the Outer Rim or maybe even Wild Space.

Now that Ezra really sat down and thought about it, what was Thrawn anyway?

"What if I told you that I hailed from outside Imperial Space? And that my people have been living in a sector of space not far from our current location? A separate, isolated civilization within the Unknown Regions, outside of Imperial Space."

What? Was Ezra hearing him right? A whole other empire in the Unknown Regions? This had to be a trick of some sort, an idea like that was way too far fetched. "Yeah right, I don't believe that. If you're from this magical 'other civilization', then why did you run off to join the Empire?" Ezra asked.

"I wished to make contact with Emperor Palpatine, in order to establish an alliance and turn the Empire's vast war machine against our enemies." Thrawn explained. "Your enemies?" Ezra inquired.

"What if I told you there are things far worse in this Galaxy than the Empire?" Thrawn asked him. "Nightmarish abominations and evils that could annihilate your Rebellion with minimal effort, swiping them away in an instant."

This was a trick, this had to be a trick, some sort of scheme by Thrawn to trick him into saving them. Ezra wasn't going to buy it. "You're messing with my head, you're trying to trick me into helping you get back to Lothal so you can destroy it. I'm not as stupid as you think I am."

Thrawn sighed at the Jedi's naivety, "You said you were prepared to die out here never knowing what happened to your friends, but are you willing to die out here knowing you could have went back and warned them about what lurks in this forgotten part of space? I am sure your Rebellion will be grateful for your sacrifice when they are attacked, without warning, from the very depths of the Unknown Regions by some unimaginable monstrosity they couldn't possibly have known about, their victory over the Empire rendered pointless. If you help us get to the Chiss Ascendancy, perhaps we can work together to fight the horrors of the Unknown Regions and avoid that fate." Thrawn suggested.

"Wait, Chiss what?" Ezra asked in confusion.

"The Chiss Ascendancy," Thrawn corrected him, "the home of my people, the Chiss." He continued. "We don't have enough fuel to return to Imperial Space, so my fleet has plotted a course for the Ascendancy instead. I came here so that we could put aside our differences and reach the relative safety of the Chiss Ascendancy. From there, we can refuel, repair, and then return to known space."

This situation was somehow even more absurd than what he had done with the Purrgil. Thrawn was bad enough, and now Ezra had just learnt there were more of him. However, he had to admit, his curiosity was peaked. Were they all this insufferable? Ruthless? Cold? Detached? Or was Thrawn just some strange outlier, even among his own people? More so, as much as Ezra couldn't stand Thrawn, he couldn't deny that Thrawn was, quite frankly, a genius. The Grand Admiral had given him and his friends far too much trouble over the years, and if the rest of these "Chiss" were as formidable in combat as him, well that idea was more terrifying than any number of Inquisitors, or even Sith Lords for that matter.

"Holding grudges in a life or death situation can be fatal." Thrawn said, "There are bigger things at stake here than just the conflict between your Rebels and my Empire."

"You expect me to just forget about the fact that you were willing to destroy Lothal?" Ezra asked. This entire situation was a joke, he thought. And not the good kind, the kind of horrible joke Zeb or Chopper would tell just to annoy him.

"Lothal is one planet, the galaxy is at stake." Thrawn told him sternly, doubling down. "I joined the Empire to warn them about threats of an existential nature, threats which would no doubt destroy Lothal, if I have to destroy one planet to save trillions of others from destruction, then so be it." Thrawn took a step away from his Ezra, staring at the wall.

"Sorry, but I'm not about to trust somebody who just a while ago was ready to destroy my home planet."

Thrawn looked like he was about to reply when suddenly his comm beeped to life. He picked it up as the voice of Commodore Faro came through.

"Grand Admiral, you're needed on the bridge. We're ready to move out and the rest of the fleet has just arrived, but there's something else, the Death's Head detected something at the edge of the system as it came in. Captain Harbid wished to discuss it."

"I will be there momentarily Commodore, Thrawn out." He motioned to Ezra, "it looks like you've been presented with an opportunity to see these threats first-hand, I think it is time for you to see what was so dangerous it caused me to join the Empire." Thrawn stepped out of the cell and he and his guard began walking away towards the turbolift.

"You're just going to let me out of the cell and roam around you ship freely? Aren't you worried I'll escape?" Ezra asked, following behind them.

"And if you were to escape, where would you go? We are far too deep within the Unknown Regions for you to effectively return to your Rebellion, leaving the Chimaera would be suicide."

Ezra grimaced, he hadn't thought about that. "Good point, alright, show me this 'threat' of yours."

"Commodore Faro. Is my Flagship ready?" The Grand Admiral asked, for Faro this just allowed her to think of this as business as usual.

"Yes sir. The Chimera is ready and the fleet is standing by to move out on your command" After this Thrawn followed her to the front of the bridge and she keyed in a line with the Death's Head and Captain Harbid reported in.

"And one more thing sir.." He added, before a hologram of a very bizarre looking ship appeared, "This was hiding at the edge of our sensors, Sir. Com-Scan managed to catch it before it slipped out. It was running a passive scan of the system as we dropped in then ducked back into the asteroid field. I don't know what it is but as you can see it has a very organic look to it, shell shaped like a giant oyster, and we couldn't track it again after it left our scanners. A lieutenant suggested we move to investigate but I thought it would be better if we just acted like we didn't see it and reported to you sir."

Organic, that was the word he used. Ezra studied the… creature? Ship? Whatever it was, and noticed it's design. The front indeed appeared to be a large shell, with a long tail extending backwards. Various flagella protruded from the sides and hung downwards. The whole structure reminded of him a shark swimming through the water. Faro was similarly studying the strange object, mind focused intently on figuring out what exactly it was.

"Thank you Captain Harbin. You acted as needed. Fall in formation with the other ships and await further orders" Harbin acknowledged and the comm switched off and Thrawn turned to Faro.

"Sir, with all due respect, what's he doing here?" Faro at last motioned angrily towards the Jedi, momentarily breaking his focus from the object.

"The Jedi is here to see what is at stake." Thrawn replied. "But regardless, be ready to move immediately, we are in grave danger. I recognize that ship, it is a scouting vessel, no doubt searching for prey for it's fleet."

"If it's a hostile, we should destroy it, Sir." Faro interrupted.

"There would be no point, it no doubt reported our location as soon as it arrived, and it's mothership, as well as the rest of the fleet is most likely on it's way."

And almost as if by clockwork the bridges busy crew went silent as a beeping tone went off from the threat assessment station and the klaxon blared as all hands went to battle stations.

"Sir! Sensors are registering anomalous readings!" Another specialist reported after the other "We've got several contacts dropping in from hyperspace!" The tension started to draw everyone in like a wave and Thrawn stood unflinching amidst it. Ezra's eyes darted from side to side watching the cohesion of a crew preparing for battle."It's a full fleet Sir! It's huge! Dozens... maybe even hundreds of ships!"

"Bring us about and stand by to withdraw" Commodore Faro ordered to the crew pit as she moved to the Admirals side.

"That would no doubt be the fleet," Thrawn explained, "all ships, prepare for hyperspace jump on my mark." Thrawn stood ready to deliver the order.

"Sir! We need to jump now!" Faro pleaded quietly to the Admiral, "We are in no shape to fight a fully equipped hostile fleet."

"Without navigational charts of an area as rife with anomalies as the Unknown Regions, a hyperspace jump would be suicide." Thrawn corrected her, he said that to Faro, but Ezra knew better, that statement was intended for him. Thrawn then turned to Ezra, "So what shall it be, Bridger? Will we work together to warn the Galaxy of what lurks in the dark? Or will we go to our deaths here, nobody ever knowing what happened to us?" Thrawn asked, held out his hand to a seat down in the in the crew pit.

Ezra saw Faro glare at him with fury, loathing the fact that her life now may very well depend on this Jedi. He looked around and saw, no, he sensed their fear through the force, the bridge was filled with genuine terror from the Imperials, wonder and amazement as to what exactly a large fleet was doing in this part of space. For the first time ever, Ezra felt Imperials, his mortal enemies, being scared.

All except Thrawn of course, who calmly awaited his response.

This wasn't a trick, dammit, Thrawn had done it again. Once more, he'd outsmarted Ezra and maneuvered him right where he wanted him, putting Ezra in a snap life or death decision.

"Alright! Fine! I'll do it! I'll help you now jump!" Ezra yelled at the Admiral.

"That's all I needed to hear," Thrawn said, his gaze going to his crew and his fleet.

Ezra rushed down and sat in the chair at the helm console and closed his eyes. As he had done so many times he took a deep breath and the bridge fell out around him as he reached out with the force. He saw the ships, the asteroids, and the stars. He heard the crew reporting in the background as he reached down and keyed the hyperdrive.

But there was something else, this fleet that was coming... he could feel it, or more accurately, he couldn't. It was hard to explain, something only one in-tune with the force could understand. But he felt… death, darkness. A void in the force, where it's will was denied, a blind spot, it felt… cold…

"All ships moving with us sir. Jumping to Hyperspace.. Now!" Faro reported as the stars outside stretched into white lines and finally exploding into a brilliant blue as the Chimaera fled into hyperspace, the rest of the Seventh Fleet following behind it.

Ezra let out a sigh of relief, glad to put distance between him and… whatever that was, he sat keying the controls and guiding the Star Destroyers past gravity wells and asteroids, away from the fleet that had come to catch them and away from the dark edge of space that they arrived in, and now all Ezra had to do was not slip on one of the keys. It would be too embarrassing for it to end like this after everything he had done...

"Arrival in Three.. Two.. One.. Mark" the chief navigation officer reported and Ezra slowly lowered his hands and opened his eyes. He felt stiff and tired. Looking at the crono display on the computer console he had been navigating the fleet for almost eight hours before Thrawn had directed him to drop them out of hyperspace.

"Thank you for your assistance Ezra." Thrawn said from the command walkway as he handed a datapad back to a junior officer. "We will be moving the fleet to cover to continue repairs. We will be making preparations for another jump in twelve standard hours. In the meantime I suggest you get some rest. Quarters have been prepared for you." Thrawn turned as Ezra walked up beside him. "Is there something else you wish to discuss then?"

"Are you going to tell me what exactly that was back there?" Ezra asked Thrawn.

"I will tell you everything I know of them once we reach the relative safety of the Ascendancy. For now, we focus on the voyage ahead." Thrawn said, "Your cooperation is most appreciated, Bridger, now if you'll excuse me, I have other matters to attend to."

Ezra had done this sort of guidance before, in particularly far out parts of the galaxy, where hyperspace routes could be poorly defined and rarely travelled. Back when Phoenix Squadron had been searching for a base, him and Kanan would sometimes guide the Ghost in a similar manner. Reaching out to find a suitable base had made them targets for Inquisitors time and time again.

And he was curious as to what exactly he had come so close to back there. He could feel it in the force… no, he couldn't, but he could feel a spot where the force was absent, completely and utterly absent. A shroud that blinded him from seeing this "threat" of Thrawn's. Whatever this thing was it was truly an oddity.

Other matters, however, also troubled him. He frowned as he began to think about this impromptu alliance he'd struck with Thrawn. Was he really going to help the Imperials? Was he betraying his friends by doing so? Wouldn't this completely undo his victory over Lothal?

No, he told himself. He was not happy with this situation, and he practically gagged at the thought of working with Imperials, but if these 'Threats' were as dangerous as Thrawn was making them out to be then he had to warn his friends. If Ezra had saved Lothal from the Empire, only to have the Rebels be taken by surprise and destroyed by an enemy they could never have seen coming then everything that had transpired would have been for nought. He had to go through with this, and if he had to fight Thrawn and his fleet again, he would face them gladly, along with whatever else threatened the Rebellion.

But seriously, what was that thing? Thrawn called it a 'bioship'? Ezra wondered as he left the bridge. He returned hours later after resting in his new quarters for a while, and taking a walk around the ship to clear his head. It felt odd, almost surreal, to be going for a leisurely stroll around an Imperial Star Destroyer, let alone the flagship of the Grand Admiral he had been fighting against for almost a year, though of course certain rooms were closed off to him, including the room with the Lothal temple where he had faced the Emperor. He found it quite hard to start up a conversation with anyone as most kept their distance or otherwise avoided him outright. Not that he could blame them, he wasn't sure he wanted to strike up a friendly conversation with Imperials anyways. As he returned to the bridge he retook the station as the fleet maneuvered out from the orbit of a small moon and made the jump to hyperspace.

"You knew that would happen Sir, didn't you?." Faro said, leaning over the holo-projector to support herself.

"A calculated risk, Commodore, one that I was certain would play out in our favour, I apologise for putting the fleet at risk but we were not going to be able to move anywhere without Ezra's guidance." Thrawn said.

"Ezra is stubborn, and staunchly loyal to his Rebellion, it would have taken hours, if not days, to convince him to help us. Peaking his curiosity, and demonstrating to him the threat first hand and forcing him into a snap decision was the most efficient method of winning him over. Ezra cares about his friends above all else, if he believes they are in danger he will do anything to save them." Thrawn explained with his signature calculating demeanour.

"And that fleet? How did you know they would find us?"

"I knew somebody would find us eventually, somebody... hostile. There are many less than hospitable species and factions out here. You have already met the Grysk, Commodore, but there is also the Vagaari, the Ssi-Ruu, the Killiks and many, many more..."

Faro struggled to process the bombardment of information, Ssi-what? Any one of those names raised hundreds of questions, and Thrawn had just given her three. "Though I will admit, I was not expecting anybody to find us this quickly, let alone the Far Outsiders themselves."

"Far Outsiders, Sir?" Faro's face contorted in confusion.

"That is what the Chiss refer to them as, Commodore." Thrawn said, "Though out of all the species my people have encountered, the Far Outsiders are by far the most elusive, they are also the most dangerous."

"What do we do with the Jedi once we get back to Imperial Space?" Faro asked.

"I do not know as of yet. For now, we must focus on reaching the relative safety of the Ascendancy." Thrawn observed his second in command, Faro was visibly exhausted, her uniform was ruffled and her hat was creased, the stress of trying to restore order to the ship while the Grand Admiral was unconscious had visibly taken it's toll on her. "Is there something wrong Commodore? You do not seem to be entirely focused."

Faro turned over to Thrawn. "I'm sorry sir, it's just… Permission to speak freely sir?" Thrawn gives an affirmative nod "It's been exhausting, everything that's happened since we left Lothal. I mean, first we get pulled through hyperspace by those things back there, and now we're being hunted by these 'Far Outsiders' of yours. I don't know how I'm going to keep up with all of this Admiral."

"Understandable, it has been an eventful day. Your efforts to manage the Chimaera in my absence are most appreciated. I'll need you to begin discussions with our supply officer to see what we have in stock and then you are to leave the rest of the fleet liaison work to Captain Pellaeon. It is not your role anymore and I need my commanding officer clear minded and alert." Thrawn takes the datapad from her. "You may go and have a well deserved rest now, Commodore, you are hereby dismissed."

"Thank you Sir." Faro stood at attention and went to the turbolift. As the doors sealed in front of her she let out a sigh of relief, and made her way to her quarters, the past few hours had taken more out of her than she thought she had in her, and after finishing this last task Thrawn assigned to her she was going to go down to her quarters, collapse onto her bed and lie down for as long as she wasn't needed...