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Picket Force Two was a frontier patrol unit of the Chiss Ascendancy's Expansionary Fleet, commanded in 27 BBY by Force Commander Mitth'raw'nuruodo and based in an asteroid of the Crustai system.
Overview
The mission of Picket Force Two was to represent and protect Chiss interests in the volume of space around the Crustai system, prior to the planned establishment of a civilian colony by the Chiss Ascendancy. As a permanent presence here, Thrawn constructed a command post buried deep inside an asteroid, but he seems to have preferred to lead from his command ship, the cruiser Springhawk.
The Springhawk, rather less than 200 meters on the keel, and armed with missiles and Chiss masers, was apparently typical of Picket Force Two's capital ships; her escort of three hyperspace-capable heavy starfighters was also apparently typical of the patrol elements these ships led. With just three cruisers and their nine fighter escorts, Thrawn routed a force consisting of the Lucrehulk-class battleships Darkvenge and Keeper, six Hardcell-class armed transports, seven Trade Federation escort cruisers, and three thousand Vulture droid starfighters.
It seems that this small force represented the total combat strength of Picket Force Two, although two transport shuttles and a further force of five fighters were also seen at the asteroid base. The capital ships bore names - such as Springhawk, and the Whirlwind, retrofitted with a Vagaari gravity well projector; the fighters had numerical designations, such as Fighter Four, which performed an important probing feint in the battle against the Trade Federation force.
Appearances
- Outbound Flight (and unabridged audiobook) (First appearance, in book) (First identified as Picket Force Two, in book)
- Outbound Flight abridged audiobook
- Heir to the Empire (and unabridged audiobook) (First mentioned, in book) (Indirect mention only)
- Heir to the Empire abridged audiobook (Indirect mention only)
- Vision of the Future (and unabridged audiobook) (Indirect mention only)
- Vision of the Future abridged audiobook (Indirect mention only)
- Survivor's Quest (and unabridged audiobook) (Mentioned only)
- Survivor's Quest abridged audiobook (Mentioned only)
Sources
"The University of Sanbra Guide to Intelligent Life: The Chiss" — Star Wars Gamer 5 (First identified as Thrawn's fleet)- The New Essential Guide to Characters (Indirect mention only)
- The Official Star Wars Fact File 137 CHI 1-4: Chiss (Indirect mention only)
- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia (Mentioned in multiple entries, but without own entry)
- The Essential Atlas
- The Essential Reader's Companion
