"Where is the First Fleet? Why is there nothing here?!" Sefrans Tann immediately sensed that something was wrong. Even more unsettling, Thrawn's fleet was nowhere to be seen either!!
The First Fleet had departed several hours ago. The Ithor System was about six parsecs, or dozens of light-years, from the Parlin-Minor System. By hyperspace route, the journey should have taken less than an hour.
Thrawn's fleet had still been on Ithor Planet around six hours ago. After that, the unmanned reconnaissance craft Tann had deployed were destroyed. But since Thrawn had already arrived here, he presumably would not have left.
So... where had these two fleets gone?
Could Thrawn really have seen through her plan and simply fled, disregarding the perilous situation on Parlin-Minor Planet? If that were true, Dunn Vesex would never let him off. And even with Palpatine's support, what he wanted to see was the value Thrawn could demonstrate. If Thrawn truly fled without fighting, it would be the equivalent of slapping Palpatine in the face!
If that was truly the case, it would be no different from suicide!
And the most crucial question now was: where was the First Fleet?
"An Interdictor? Tsk tsk tsk tsk..." General Trench's voice turned grave as well.
Sefrans Tann frowned deeply. "Impossible! If Interdictors had been deployed, the First Fleet would have detected them before beginning its hyperspace jump. If there weren't enough Interdictors, the hyperspace engine's intelligent system could simply navigate around them. Thrawn had at most six hours. There was absolutely no time for him to deploy Interdictors on a large scale!"
"This is the only possibility. Tsk tsk tsk tsk... The First Fleet definitely did not reach the Ithor System. They were definitely intercepted along the way," General Trench said with absolute certainty.
"Do we search dozens