The Pythea was an exploratory ship in the possession of Panha, a female Chiss, together with Sarkkin, a male Wookiee. During 25 ABY, this starship encountered a fleet manned by the Yuuzhan Vong—an extragalactic species of invaders—en route to the planet known as Artorias. The Pythea's crew made an attempt to communicate with Artorias, but the distance necessitated rerouting all available power to ensure the transmission's success. Upon realizing the Yuuzhan Vong's intent to capture them alive rather than kill them, Panha and Sarkkin made the ultimate sacrifice, ramming their vessel into a Miid ro'ik cruiser to prevent their capture. Regrettably, the message intended for Artorias proved futile, as the recipient, Dulac, was secretly a spy for the Yuuzhan Vong.
The exploratory vessel Pythea was red in color and featured multiple extended blaster cannons positioned at both the front and rear of its cockpit. The piloting controls were also located within the cockpit. This ship included a hyperdrive, a cargo bay, deflector shields, scanners, and communications systems. The Aurebesh characters "Usk" and "Dorn" were prominently displayed on the vessel's exterior.
In the year 25 ABY, while on an exploratory mission, the female Chiss named Panha and the male Wookiee called Sarkkin, who jointly owned and operated the Pythea, received a transmission originating from Arbeloa, the sole survivor of the Cilare. Arbeloa's communication served as a warning regarding the Yuuzhan Vong, extragalactic invaders whose fleet had obliterated his home planet. Simultaneously, the Pythea's advanced scanners detected the approaching fleet. The crew endeavored to transmit a warning to Artorias, the first inhabited planet in the fleet's path, but the distance was too great for successful communication. Deciding that alerting Artorias was paramount, even at the expense of their own escape, the Pythea's crew steered the ship closer to the Yuuzhan Vong fleet and redirected all available power to the transmission. Recognizing the vessel, the Yuuzhan Vong dispatched several ships under the command of Azca to intercept the Pythea.
Before the Pythea could mount a defense against the approaching vessels, Yorik-Vec ships initiated an attack on the exploratory vessel. As the Yuuzhan Vong began to penetrate the Pythea's hull, the transmission finally reached Artorias. Panha and Sarkkin informed Dulac, the recipient of the transmission and a friend of the planet's king, about the incoming fleet, providing all the data they had gathered on the armada. Following Dulac's receipt of the information, the Yuuzhan Vong successfully breached the Pythea's hull, and warriors commenced boarding the ship. The crew killed the boarding party, and—realizing that the Yuuzhan Vong wanted to capture them alive rather than kill them—Panha and Sarkkin deliberately crashed the Pythea into a Miid ro'ik cruiser. The resulting impact led to the destruction of both the cruiser and the Pythea, along with several nearby Yorik-Vecs. The Pythea's sacrifice marked one of the initial acts of resistance against the Yuuzhan Vong during their invasion of the galaxy. However, the warning meant for Artorias proved futile, as Dulac, the individual who received the message, was, in reality, a spy working for the Yuuzhan Vong. Consequently, the attack by the Yuuzhan Vong on Artorias caught the planet's inhabitants off guard, allowing the invaders to successfully conquer the world.
The initial appearance of the Pythea occurred in Refugees, Prologue, an online preview for Star Wars: Invasion, a comic series published by Dark Horse Comics. This preview was made available on the official Star Wars website on May 8, 2009.