Destruction of Special Task Force One The Destruction of Task Force One was a battle between Commander Mitth ' raw ' nuruodo ' s Picket Force Two and Special Task Force One . It was one of the earliest battles that showed Thrawn ' s superior tactical abilities , as Special Task One was completely destroyed , with the exception of the flagship " Darkvenge " , because it was intentionally left intact . Background . When Outbound Flight launched from Yaga Minor with 18 Jedi aboard , Darth Sidious ordered the Trade Federation to destroy it in the Unknown Regions . Kinman Doriana , taking the alias " Stratis , " and Vicelord Siv Kav assembled 15 Trade Federation warships — 2 Lucrehulk battleshipsps , 6 armed " Hardcell " - class transports , and 7 Trade Federation escort cruiser s — to intercept Outbound Flight . After stopping in the region where Outbound Flight was supposed to make a navigational stop , they were detected by one of Thrawn ' s patrols . He brought Jorj Car ' das with him , who identified the ships as belonging to the Trade Federation . Thrawn decided to communicate with the " Darkvenge " , in order to discover their intentions . Although Doriana was willing to talk , Vicelord Kav impatiently decided to attack . The Battle . The " Keeper " launched half of its droid starfighters , and sent three groups to attack Picket Force Two , with the rest forming a defensive screen . After learning that the droids had a limited range due to their reliance on computer control , Thrawn had his ships pull back , while moving the " Whirlwind " to another edge of the battlezone . The droid starfighters were soon out of range , and retreated . Thrawn then had one of his fighters repeatedly move into range and out again . Although this maneuver appeared simple to Vicelord Kav , it was really designed for the purpose of identifying the signal controlling the droid starfighters . Once this happened , Thrawn ' s force moved back into range . They broadcast a modified signal to the droids , which caused them to fly aimlessly into deep space . Picket Force Two , having eliminated the first three groups of fighters , began their attack in earnest . Once close enough to the main defensive screen , the Chiss ships launched conner net s at the droid starfighters , effectively knocking nine more groups out of action . Vicelord Kav responded by beginning to launch the " Keeper ' s " remaining fighters . Before they could launch , however , Thrawn initiated full spectrum jamming , thus disabling communication with the fighters . The Chiss blasted the helpless fighters , not only destroying them , but causing debris to block the laser communications that the " Darkvenge " was using to restart the fighters . The other capital ships in the task force began to attack at this time . The " Hardcell " - class transports launched their missiles at the Chiss ships , but they simply launched more conner nets to disable the missiles and cause them to hit the other Hardcells . Discovering a weakness , the Chiss quickly eliminated the remaining Hardcells , and moved on to the escort cruisers , destroying them as well . Meanwhile , the " Darkvenge " tried to retreat , but found itself unable to jump into hyperspace due to the gravity well projector inside the " Whirlwind " , which remained to the side of the battle . At this time , the " Keeper " exploded , as the un - launched and disabled droid starfighters self - destructed inside the launch bay . With only the " Darkvenge " remaining , Doriana and Vicelord Kav surrendered and allowed Thrawn to board the ship . Aftermath . Special Task Force One was completely destroyed , except for the " Darkvenge " , which Thrawn wanted to analyze . Kinman Doriana realized that he had to convince Thrawn to destroy Outbound Flight for him , or Darth Sidious would kill him . This led to a communication between Thrawn and Sidious , beginning Thrawn ' s future service in the Imperial Navy .