Not pointless at all. Just longer than Thrawn has time for with his own flagship. No sense throwing good money after bad when you can save overall by outsourcing.
Yeah, I guess the thing I'm struggling with is where the maths aligns between ' I have enough time to send my flagship to empty space specifically to wait for this one fighter' and 'I don't have enough time to hunt down my helpless adversary'.

His cover story for the encounter is that the Star Destroyer was hunting down...one light freighter, which, even ignoring that it was his personal flagship, seems like an enormous waste of a capital ship's time. You don't send aircraft carriers to chase pirates. It seems immediately suspicious to me.

side: I note that Thrawn has chosen an ordinary ISDII as his flag. Not a Galaxy Gun or a Death Star. Is that simply because none are available, or is it a deliberate choice not to build such things? Certainly lack of resources doesn't seem to have stopped Isaard et al from building ridiculously huge ships.
His secret weapon seems to be already built, it's the Emperor's Treasure Mountain.

IIRC the Empire is about a quarter the size it was at the battle of Endor.
That's territory, not fleet numbers. But everyone keeps talking about how undermanned and understrength the Imperials are.

I always liked the description of the Wookkiee homeworld there. You can see either Zhan really researched his subject, or just went full creative.
Yeah, it's a very nice scene, Leia and the reader has to keep reminding themselves that they're a different culture but that doesn't mean they don't know their tech or are insular just because they live in treehouses.

lso, who besides the Empire knows that the Chimaera is the flagship?
Karrde did, he read the name and went 'oh, that's Thrawn's ship'. Now, he's probably more well connected than average, but even so, it can be done. All that aside, I could easily see this happening if Luke escaped and got to Jomark.

C'Baoth: You're late.

Luke: Sorry. Had a run in with an ISD.

C'Baoth. Oh really? (I must ask Thrawn to discipline the captain) Which one?

Luke: They said they were the Chimaera.

C'Baoth: Betrayal!


CH18: R2 wakes up Luke, who comes out of hibernation to discover a new ship bearing down on him. The X Wing's combat systems are shut down, so he can't make a fight of it even if he had anywhere else to go. The Corellian freighter is moving too fast for its size, but he can't worry about that right now.

He's hailed by the Wild Karrde, and after some negotiation, they agree passage to a nearby system. He comes across in a 'force cylinder' and is met and brought to the captain. His force senses something weird about the place, but he can't give it too much thought. He's introduced to Talon, who greets him by name. They banter a bit, and Luke realises he was expected. Talon references Mara, and Luke senses hate from her. Then he gets tazed from behind.

So, Mara is force sensitive and hates Luke. Okay. Short enough to keep reading.

CH19: He wakes slowly and painfully, aware he'd been out for at least a couple of days. He tries to detoxify his system and fails. Eventually he wakes up again to find Mara across from him with a blaster. His Jedi abilities don't work. She tells him to get up because Karrde wants to see him, and with the alternative option of being shot, agrees. There's a small staring match, and he glimpses pain beneath the rage.

He's ushered into Karrde's greatroom, where he has a chair set up under a tree. He sits down, has a drink, and talk about what they plan to do with him. Karrde would prefer not to have the Empire or the Republic gunning for his head, which makes this an awkward conversation. Luke explains the recent kidnap attempts, and Karrde explains the Ysalamiri. Karrde is still not sure what to do with his new Jedi friend.

Luke gets taken back to his room. Mara still hates him. He wonders what to do.

No major revelations here, Luke is introduced to the Ysalamiri and Mara, who hates him. Not that much to comment on.