During this time, a genuine friendship formed between Car'das and Mitth'raw'nuruodo—Thrawn, as he eventually permitted them to call him—and something deeper still between him and Maris Ferasi... yes, it could even be called love.
Car'das and Ferasi taught Thrawn the Galactic Basic Standard, and he, in turn, taught them the Chiss language, Cheunh, as well as the trade language, Minnisiat.
Mitt'raw'nuruodo's increasingly provocative actions soon drew the close scrutiny of the Defense Hierarchy, the Mitth family, and the Chaf family. Yet Mitt'raw'nuruodo did not hesitate to violate Chiss protocol in order to seize the gravity generator of the Vagaari fleet besieging the Geroon planet. He was wounded in the battle, and Maris saved his life.
After recovering from his injuries, Mitt'raw'nuruodo dispatched his entire guard squadron—only twelve small vessels—to investigate a group of unknown warships that had entered the patrol zone. It turned out to be a powerful squadron belonging to a certain Trade Federation.
Mitt'raw'nuruodo's ships dealt a crushing defeat to the intruders. When only the flagship, Darkvenge, remained intact, flotilla commander Kinman Doriana summoned Thrawn for negotiations. Doriana explained Thrawn about his mission, gave a disparaging assessment of the Jedi—particularly Jedi Master Jorus C'baoth—and warned Thrawn that Darth Sidious concerned about the wanted expedition might fall into the hands of the Far Outsiders. This caught Mitt'raw'nuruodo's attention, for the Chiss were already repelling attacks from the biological vessels of this unknown race.
Negotiations between him and the leader of the Outbound Flight, Jorus C'baoth, failed. The Jedi Master refused to return home, even though Mitt'raw'nuruodo insisted he could not allow Outbound Flight to fall into the hands of the Far Outsiders, a threat he had faced in the company against Vagaari. Mitt'raw'nuruodo lured the ships into a trap, exposing them to attack by the enemy Vagaari fleet. In the ensuing chaos, only fifty of the expedition's more than fifty thousand participants survived. The remnants of the Vagaari fleet managed to escape. Near the end of the battle, C'baoth nearly strangled Thrawn, but Kinman Doriana miraculously killed the deranged Jedi Master. Thus, Mitt'raw'nuruodo realized that Sidious's warnings about the Jedi were not without merit.
Among the Chiss—including Aristocra Chaf'orm'bintrano of the Chaf family, Syndic Thrass, and Admiral Ar'alani of the Hierarchy—sharp disagreements arose. They were ultimately resolved when Thrass and Jedi Knight Lorana Jinzler took the Outbound Flight into hyperspace. Despite Chaf'orm'bintrano's objections, Ar'alani ensured that Mitt'raw'nuruodo received only an informal reprimand and that the Hierarchy secured the Vagaari ship-retention technology. Mitt'raw'nuruodo became renowned among the Chiss for destroying Outbound Flight.
Although the authorities' disapproval should have cooled Thrawn's ardor, the result was disappointing. Doriana reported everything to Sidious, who extended offers to the talented officer. But Mitt'raw'nuruodo could not abandon his post with dignity, so he decided to orchestrate his own removal by continuing to launch preemptive strikes without approval. After attacking several enemy ground-based weapons factories, Thrawn was sentenced to the traditional Chiss punishment: exile to an uninhabited world.
And now he was languishing on a remote, unnamed planet, awaiting news. The locals had not yet advanced beyond a primitive stage of civilization and were poor conversationalists. Still, the Chiss did not give up hope that someday his fate would be better than it was now.
Then suddenly a ship of unusual , Republic design appeared it was a nu class shuttle belonged to dagon marek forces.
A droid of unusual model appeared out followed by 3 clone commandos and a medic.
" are you the once called thrain or was it thrawn?" Ethan joked.
" its thrawn , who's asking and are you an enemy?" Thrawn said confused but cautious.
" just someone who works for someone else who understands the far outsides your people worry about and understands they have a massive fleet with advanced weapons that could , well kill us all."
Thrawn agreed and stepped into the shuttle for unknown locations.
***
An old, hunched man walked slowly down the dimly lit corridor of the ship, leaning on a simple cane. He didn't need to look—he traveled this path every day and knew it by heart.
"Remember this, Zhenn—and you too, Forki."
The two teenagers bowed their heads respectfully, and the old man sighed with quiet sorrow. There were fewer and fewer of those who Keep. He was the last of his generation. His children, and the children of his comrades, were long dead—claimed by time, illness, or the endless wandering aboard this ship forgotten by the gods. Only two would be able to take up the traditions and the Duty, becoming the new Keepers—one pair among many over the past twenty-five thousand years.
In total, forty-two remained: nine Guards, two Healers, two Assassins, three Pilots, and seven Technicians. The rest were Servants. Two Novices would one day take his place—the place of the Keeper.
"We are approaching the Tomb," the old man said. "Show respect—here lies the one whose sleep we guard. We are the faithful followers of the Legions of Lettow, descendants of those who wandered in darkness, hiding in deep crevices to escape the wrath of the Magisters. But we have not forgotten, and the memory will not die as long as we Preserve."
"Yes, Keeper," the teenagers replied in unison.
At last, they entered a large chamber that had once been a hangar. Against the far wall, on a raised platform, stood a decorated sarcophagus. Tattered cloth banners hung from the walls. Near the entrance, on a small pedestal, lay a large crystal—Kashi Mer.
"Kneel," the old man groaned as he lowered himself before the relic. "Behold the greatest relic our ancestors carried from that battlefield! Bow your heads and remember—we Keep!"