Nine years, nine months, and the thirty-fifth day after the Battle of Yavin...
Or the forty-fourth year, nine months, and thirty-fifth day after the Great Resynchronization.
(Five months and the twentieth day since the arrival).
General Bel Iblis stared intently at the tactical hologram, on which numerous markers of the transport ships entering the system—the last group—were almost instantly repainted from neutral blue to hostile red.
Such was his order.
"And the identification codes, meanwhile, are correct," noted the hologram of General Solo, who was also present on the bridge of his brave Corellian's flagship, the newest Mon Calamari MC80b-type star cruiser Faithful.
Previously, this ship had been patrolling in another sector, but Bel Iblis recalled it, as well as many other starships to Coruscant after the battle at Bpfassh IV, and together with Admiral Duplex's ships, directed them "for repairs" to Sluis Van.
"And yet," objected the hologram of the aforementioned Zeltron, "these starships lack our beacons. Not to mention that several are missing."
"Yes, Thrawn intercepted our last transport convoy somewhere, delayed, captured, or killed them, and slipped us ships of similar class from his vast number of trophies," explained Bel Iblis. "Now they will try to pass through our defenses and mingle with the rest of the transport starships. As soon as Thrawn attacks, I am sure these ships will be among the closest to our Imperial-design starships. The timing is ideal—he attacked the Second Fleet's transports, which are crewed by civilian hires, and some GR75s are entirely private. This allowed him to tamper with the ships so that if we hadn't figured it out, we would have taken them for our own ships."
"Docking, boarding, and eliminating the duty watches," developed the thought Han Solo. "After which the ships can be towed beyond the perimeter and sent to the yard for subsequent refit into Dominion service."
"Elegant, isn't it?" smiled Bel Iblis.
"I do not approve of your optimism, General," stated Duplex. "You are staking too much on having understood our enemy's plan."
"I don't want to seem pessimistic, as that's not typical for Corellians, but I'll support the Admiral," Han said reluctantly. "Thrawn is quite the piece of work. He might have guessed."
"Don't overestimate him," stated Bel Iblis. "Though he is talented, that's undeniable, but he is also a sentient. He may be a genius, but nothing human is alien to him. He will certainly seize the opportunity to take our last Star Destroyers, interdictor cruisers, and heavy cruisers of Imperial manufacture to prove to the entire galaxy how weak we are."
"I don't think his victories have emboldened him so much that he would suddenly walk into our trap," stated Duplex. "Bpfassh, Coruscant, Sarapin, Balmorra—all these operations indicate that he clearly seeks to outplay us on our own field. He uses our traps against us. What if he brings Lusankya here or his second SSD?"
"As for the second—I allow it, as for the recent trophy—unlikely," stated Bel Iblis. "And regarding the trap... Thrawn has never missed a chance to fall into our trap or otherwise harm our plans. This is a state close to megalomania—he considers himself smarter than us and strives to prove it to everyone by directly disrupting our plans. I didn't sacrifice so much just to give up at the last step. He will definitely come here. You see these ships?" he pointed to the recently appeared freighters. "He perfectly forged the identification data and access codes to penetrate here. But he only overlooked that we placed beacons on our ships. That means—he is not without flaws. One cannot be the best at everything and plan operations perfectly. Now his buzz droids are transmitting the information we need, direct flights in the system are blocked, and that means he won't use his "superweapon" to destroy our ships."
"We still don't know the capabilities of his fighter-bomber," stated Han Solo.
"But we know for sure that he doesn't make microjumps in hyperspace," stated Bel Iblis. "That means—it's no more than an afterburner. I think Thrawn is using his old development—a missile boat, with which he destroyed Zaarin's forces. At least the Signus Corporation doesn't own an assembly line at the moment— it was bought by Moff Ferrus. From the Morshdine sector. And that place clearly suited as Thrawn's base until the creation of the Dominion. Ferrus was one of the first to join the Dominion openly. And that's already a telling gesture."
"Actually, the Dominion itself seems to have grown out of the Morshdine sector," said Han Solo.
"Probably so," agreed Bel Iblis.
"I think we shouldn't allow the enemy to act so openly at Sluis Van," stated Admiral Duplex. "Since we know these are starships with landing troops, it's time to inspect and destroy them."
"That's exactly what we're doing," stated Bel Iblis, pressing several keys on his holoprojector. "If you look at this data," he pointed to several dozen diagrams, "you'll see that the fighters that flew past the arriving freighters scanned them. And requested information about the reason for the delay."
"I don't see what to pay attention to here," admitted Duplex. "Except that the ship captains claim they were delayed and inspected by Imperial patrols. But we understand that's half-truth."
"General Solo?" the Supreme Commander looked at his compatriot with a smile.
And Han had just understood what it was about.
"The bills of lading, the volume of detected cargo, and the ships' movement patterns don't match," said Solo. "The documents say they're loaded to capacity. The commanders say the same—and they're heading to the ships, supposedly for unloading weapons and spare parts. But the scans indicate the cargo holds are only half full—at most two-thirds. Cargo along the sides, and empty in the center. Yet the acceleration and deceleration of the transports match the picture of full loading. Moreover, almost all have additional transport containers beyond the norm... Why carry empty containers if there's space in the hold? And if they're in "overload," they're too nimble."
"Masking fields inside the ships," the Zeltron grimaced. "Thrawn clearly didn't skimp on refitting his trophies. Each such installation can cost a fortune."
"He seems to have no problems with money, if he can spend it on equipping hundreds of asteroids and hundreds of transports," agreed Bel Iblis. "But this is exactly what we've all been waiting for—confirmation of the "irregularity" of the arriving starships. Thrawn understands we would scan the ships and see the troopers on board. So he hid them with a masking field and thus "smuggled the landing right under our noses." I think he placed the cargo along the sides precisely to counter scanners, so we wouldn't smell the trick. So, the first move is ours, gentlemen—these transports we'll capture or destroy. But the boarding teams won't get onto our Star Destroyers."
"As if they would have had a chance if it were otherwise," snorted Han Solo.
"And yet, it seems to me that something is wrong," Admiral Duplex shook his head. "General, sir," he looked at Bel Iblis. "I would advise not destroying the starships, but taking measures to capture them. Perhaps we're being led by the nose again."
"That's exactly what I intend to do," Bel Iblis reassured. "The masking screens will be useful to us too."
He touched his comlink, tuned to the fleet's command frequency, and ordered the nearest ships to move to intercept the last arriving transport convoy and take measures to capture the starships.
"Do you think we can use this technology against Palpatine?" Han asked.
Being aboard his flagship, similar to that of his compatriot, the Corellian felt some excitement.
An operation of a scale unprecedented in any New Republic battle was ahead.
"The Council will never admit it, but we still believe both Thrawn's words and your wife's arguments that Palpatine, or someone trying to pass as him, has taken command of the Imperial forces in the Deep Core," said Bel Iblis. "But until Thrawn is destroyed, we won't bring this information to mid-level commanders."
"Otherwise, chaos would ensue," confirmed Duplex. "If Thrawn is the vanguard, who will come next? With what forces?"
"Our intelligence is operating in the Core, but so far there's no productive information," admitted Bel Iblis. "I won't hide it—the lack of confirmed information is reassuring. We're increasingly hoping the enemy is misleading us. Even that first SSD that appeared with Thrawn at Sullust might be nothing other than Admiral Kiz's Tide, who fled from Anaxis during our capture of Coruscant. Possibly Thrawn attacked it after the retreat, damaged the ship, and has been restoring it all this time."
"There could be any number of variants, sir," stated Admiral Duplex.
"Exactly so," agreed Bel Iblis. "Without proof, it's no more than simple guesses we make based on available information. I hope that after this operation is completed, many questions that previously remained mysteries for us will be clarified."
"Sir," the commander of the Faithful tore him from his thoughts. "Patrols report that they've surrounded the enemy transports. The ship captains are puzzled that they're not allowed to approach the yards, remind about the cargo, their damage, and demand..."
"Enough, Captain," Bel Iblis interrupted him. "I'll talk to them myself."
He switched his comlink settings and, making sure they would clearly hear him on the transports, spoke:
"Attention to the last arriving transport convoy. This is Supreme Commander of the New Republic Defense Force, General Garm Bel Iblis speaking. Your plan to capture our ships is exposed. Shut down your engines and prepare to receive inspection teams. I advise you to surrender your weapons and immediately capitulate to avoid loss of life..."
"Iblis, what the kriff are you talking about?!" a voice came in response. "Are we imps to you?"
"Guys, they're trying to con us!"
"Help them after this!"
"The Reps want to seize the cargo and ships!"
"A hairy Hutt to you, not my baby!"
"So that's how it is?!"
"First they called us to help, and now that it's eased, they decided they can put us all against the wall?!"
"Better I'd haul cargo for the Imps!"
"Those who agreed to go with the Dominion teams and sell them your Hutt turbolasers did right!"
"What's going on at all?!"
"Guys, they've decided to screw us over! They'll put us all against the wall now!"
"What nonsense?! I've been working in Second Fleet logistics since its creation?!"
"What are they even after?!"
"Better we'd give all the cargo to the Imps than deliver it to these ungrateful scum!"
"Let's get out of here!"
"Right! We'll sell this weapon to the Imps!"
"Sir," Han Solo's hologram looked alert. "This looks like panic..."
"I order all ships from the so-called Second Fleet logistics service to shut down reactors and be ready..." Bel Iblis repeated.
"To the Hutt with them, consider me a deserter, but I'm outta here! Six years of loyal service, and now they'll inspect me?!"
"War is war, so the commander-in-chief is right..."
"To hell with them all! They've had it! First they skimp on escorts, and now they want to feed us to the Imps?!"
"My reactor's leaking, if I shut it down now, it'll blow on restart!"
"The Dominion guys warned right after inspection—no one plans to pay us! Look how many ships in the system—and not one at the yards!"
"And they weren't going to fix us!"
"Or pay!"
"Serves you right, smugglers and merchants. We're military haulers, on salary, so we've got nothing to fear, we'll open the airlocks calmly and let them check as much as they want."
"Patrols—begin capture," Bel Iblis ordered, seeing more than half the starships from the arriving transport convoy begin maneuvering to leave the system boundaries.
But the fighters from the patrol ships were faster.
The starships that tried to escape were already under attack from X-wings, which fired warning shots along their course, and for most, it had a sobering effect...
"Republic bastards! They hit my reactor!"
One of the GR-75s, located almost in the center of the formation, exploded, turning into a supernova flash.
"Four fighters lost!" reported the commander of the Faithful.
"Another transport exploded!"
"No combat fire on ships!" Bel Iblis barked.
But it was too late.
Two more ships at different ends of the transport formation exploded, taking a couple of fighters with them.
And the inspection turned into a massacre.
New Republic fighters, scattering in panic in all directions from the deadly dangerous transport ships, suddenly came under fire from those very medium transports.
"This is for my friend!"
"Yeah, decided to wipe us all out here?!"
"Not by a Hutt's tail!"
Transports exploded, taking heavy hits from one side or the other, and nothing could stop it.
Nor determine the cause, the source of the problem.
Because squadron commanders vied to claim they weren't the first to open fire.
"We need to urgently withdraw our starfighters from the formation!" Bel Iblis ordered, his voice not his own from rage.
So that's the plan?
Ships packed with explosives under suicide pilots?!
"We're taking losses among fighters!"
"Seventy-three machines lost!"
"The Twenty-Seventh Squadron reports attack by buzz droids!"
"Hanging containers!" Han Solo suddenly shouted. "Sir! Fire on our starships is coming from them!"
"They're exploding too!" Admiral Duplex reported.
But Bel Iblis had already understood it.
He received operational data, and with his own eyes watched as from the depths of the medium transports, from the opened transport container bays, swarms of buzz droids flew out, literally tearing fighter after fighter to pieces, inflicting damage on the New Republic.
Jumping from one ship to another, they, like locusts sweeping away crops, crushed everything in their path, while battle droidkas held on magnetic clamps on the ship hulls supported them with fire from other containers.
"An old pirate trick," Bel Iblis gasped.
After the campaign to destroy the Separatists ended, a huge amount of their weaponry remained in the hands of dishonest sentients.
Pirates masquerading as simple traders invented a trick to bypass patrol claims.
They officially purchased droidkas and other battle droids, then stuffed their holds with them and demonstrated this to inspectors. And when the time came to capture a ship, the droidkas, thanks to the magnetic clamps on their limbs, rolled out onto the pirates' starship hull.
Where they, having their own shields and not the weakest armament, in an instant turned the pirate ship into a bristling-with-weighty-arguments combat starship.
And now this orgy was grinding down the patrol forces.
"Seventeen squadrons destroyed!"
"Two strike frigates report systems disabled!"
"Buzz droids spotted on the nearest defense station!"
"The Republic's reactor exploded!"
Bel Iblis looked at the giant sphere of fire that appeared where the star cruiser similar to the one he was on had been.
The Republic was the newest of ships of this type, but her crew consisted entirely of veterans with combat experience.
"Withdraw the starships!" Bel Iblis commanded. "Immediately, before the buzz droids finish off all the patrol forces without exception..."
"Brentaal is out of control!"
"Chandrila is heading to ram Anaxis!"
"A transport exploded next to Denon!"
The sounds of another star cruiser under attack literally tore his template apart.
"How is that?!" the Corellian was taken aback, looking at the commander of the Faithful. "Sullust is right at the yards! Buzz droids couldn't cross the entire battlefield that fast!"
"Sir, I'm not talking about the cruiser," the commander of the Faithful stated. "The planet Sullust is under attack. The Dominion fleet is boarding Imperial-design starships. But not Destroyers, light cruisers and escort frigates, relics from the Clone Wars era!"
Like struck by lightning right in the crown, General Bel Iblis had just realized that Grand Admiral Thrawn hadn't even thought of sticking his head in the noose.
He simply decided to take what was easier to put into service than to bother with Star Destroyers, of which he already had plenty.
"Urgent order for the Bremian sector fleet!" Bel Iblis shouted. "Let them immediately attack the Dominion forces. We're deploying the sector fleet from Sluissi to assist."
"Sir, it's useless," the commander of the Faithful shook his head negatively. "The Bremian sector is cut off from communications. The attack message was the last thing we heard from there."
Bel Iblis clenched his fists, looking at the battlefield.
The "Second Fleet transport convoy" was almost completely destroyed.
Along with it, more than two hundred fighters, fourteen fleet ships, three Golan-II orbital stations disabled, and who knows how many buzz droids now drifting by inertia toward the entire mass of starships assembled in orbit of Sluis Van.
"Launch observation satellites," he ordered. "Begin ship movements to secure them from the buzz droid threat. Do not relax vigilance—perhaps this is only the first round of the entire operation."
"Sir, perhaps we should use reserves?" inquired Admiral Argentis Duplex.
"Not time," Bel Iblis cut off. "Until we have confirmation that Thrawn has thrown his entire fleet at Sullust, the orders remain the same. I won't let him disrupt the ambush by diverting attention!"
Han Solo remained silent, but his gaze was more eloquent than any, even the hottest words.
***
In the grand admiral's apartments, as always, semi-darkness reigned.
But this time it was dispelled by the golden glow of the Sluis Van system hologram.
"Allow me to congratulate you, Vice Admiral," said Thrawn, pointing to the lists of enemy fleet losses. "Your plan with the buzz droids worked with an "excellent" rating."
"I didn't know we were still in the Academy," Pellaeon grumbled inwardly, keeping the thought to himself.
"Twenty squadrons of X-wings and other rebel fighters destroyed," Thrawn continued. "Eight star cruisers and six strike frigates lost to sabotage strikes by buzz droids and droidkas. Not to mention the ideological subtext of this battle."
"Eighty-seven Second Fleet medium transports, along with crews, destroyed by the Republicans themselves," Pellaeon voiced. "As well as their equipment and cargo."
"We have thirteen medium transports that agreed to switch to our side," Thrawn reminded. "And from each of these eighty-seven ships, we removed from a third to half the cargo of turbolasers and artillery equipment. This will allow arming several Type Three Destroyers. So we can consider this part of the operation successful in all short-term perspectives."
Gilad kept his opinion to himself.
Yes, the operation was successful.
Judging by how zealously the Republicans pounced on these starships, they really thought they were controlled by Dominion forces and aimed at landing.
If one considers the radio intercepts from spy satellites, a simple conclusion can be drawn—the enemy clearly expected this particular convoy to fall into Thrawn's hands. Which is logical—it was the only one going without escort.
But Gilad still reproached himself for not insisting on fully unloading the ships of their contents. The equipment on all hundred GR75s was enough to arm two or three dozen Destroyers, not a couple. From his point of view, the loss of this equipment was a significant failure of the plan.
Which he had developed.
The Second Fleet transport convoy was intercepted by his Star Destroyers, and it was planned to unload them all of cargo and send them under Imperial pilots to Sluis Van to deliver the landing.
But after Thrawn reported the preparing trap and placed the duty of adjustment on Gilad, the plans changed.
And in the end, though they didn't agree on whether the entire cargo should reach Karthakk or only a small part, the changes were made.
The ships were partially unloaded, simulating empty space on them, which was supposed to indicate the presence of a masking field and landing troops. Additional hanging containers were filled with buzz droids collected from the entire fleet and some droidkas, which on the Star Destroyers were placed in prison blocks. Filling almost any empty space with battle droids was a necessity to properly increase the number of boarding forces.
In the previous version of the attack.
Now nearly two hundred droidkas are surely destroyed.
Well, they're just droids.
Expensive, but droids.
That's what they were created for—to die where there's no need to risk the already few legions of stormtroopers.
"Interesting, what will the galaxy's reaction be when we publish recordings of the New Republic staging a massacre of their own transport ships, which we detained and inspected?" Pellaeon smirked, momentarily imagining the howl that would rise in the "Holonet."
"Disorientation conducted in the best form, Vice Admiral," agreed Grand Admiral Thrawn. "What do you say about the movement of the enemy's other transport ships after this shooting?"
Pellaeon glanced at the remaining New Republic transport starships in the system.
"They're not panicking, sir," he said. "I've noticed that too. And I have an assumption that this motley company of haulers is controlled not by simple pilots, as assumed."
"Yes, Bel Iblis and the New Republic not long ago tried to convince us that all these starships arrived to unload and undergo repairs," Thrawn said meaningfully.
"Don't we have scan data from buzz droids or spy droids?" Pellaeon clarified.
"Yes," agreed Thrawn, bringing the data to the hologram. "All ships are loaded."
Pellaeon examined the hologram of the enemy transports' movements for a while, then pointed to the characteristic formation of Admiral Duplex's star cruisers.
"The Zeltron continues to stay in the same place. Imperial-design ships are withdrawn from the yards, and transports are moved to them. And they should already be standing for unloading and repair. But they haven't done so yet."
"Observant, Vice Admiral," the Dominion Supreme Commander appraised. "Your thoughts?"
"The ships are indeed loaded, their maneuvering method speaks of it. But these cargoes are clearly not for the yards."
"Quite right," agreed Thrawn. "These cargoes General Garm Bel Iblis has reserved for us."
"Another part of the trap," Gilad realized.
"Possibly the most substantial part of it," Thrawn commented. "Well, let's not get distracted. The first stage is complete, and now the buzz droids will inflict feasible damage on the enemy, clearing space for us all the way to Argentus's fleet. And the yards."
"Another obvious trap," Pellaeon stated. "Bel Iblis is like making an invitation to the heart of his defensive perimeter. Three defense stations are idle. We can easily deploy interdictor cruisers, set up gravity interdictors, and make the ships jump to the very edge of Sluis Van's natural gravity."
"What do you think will happen to our forces then?" Thrawn clarified.
"Bel Iblis's forces will pile on us from all sides and crush us in "pincers,"" Pellaeon replied convincingly.
"That's exactly what he's after," the grand admiral nodded. "Well, when the time comes, we won't keep them waiting—we'll send the interdictors. And for now, I'm interested in how Counter-Admiral Doria's attack on Sullust is going. We've suffered some losses in light forces lately, so we need to provide the Dominion with worthy replacements."
"Doria's doing splendidly, sir," Pellaeon smiled crookedly. "Justifying his promotion one hundred percent."
***
Hands clasped behind his back, Counter-Admiral Doria stood on the bridge of the Relentless, which remained under his direct command after the promotion.
This practice, where a formation commander replaces the flagship ship's commander, originated in the depths of the Clone Wars, when there was a shortage of qualified high-ranking officers.
By the Imperial period, this vice was almost completely eradicated.
But after Endor, in the crucible of the Imperial Civil War, the need arose again.
Thrawn could easily solve it with clones, but the chain of promotions that fell on the formation commanders who had been in the grand admiral's fleet from the beginning turned out to be unexpected.
Doria had already decided that by his authority he would promote the clone of his deceased first officer to ship commander, but would do so after the operation at Sullust.
Now, despite the expectation, this news turned out to be unexpected.
And he himself needed to figure out how well he was coping with the fallen responsibilities.
His formation currently included, besides the Relentless, two more Star Destroyers of the same class, "I": Impartial and Omnipresent, once bearing Republican identification data and part of the First Division of the Third Fleet of the New Republic Defense Force.
In addition, two dozen Dreadnought-type heavy cruisers, twenty-five CR90-type Corellian corvettes, and the interdictor cruiser Olovain, captured by Grand Admiral Thrawn in the battle at Zonju V.
Three key ships—two Star Destroyers and the interdictor cruiser—had previously served the Republicans.
And they understood that perfectly now, deploying against the attacking Dominion forces four Mon Calamari MC80a-type star cruisers.
True, they saw before them only three Star Destroyers, five Corellian corvettes, and the interdictor cruiser holding back.
The other forces transferred to his command by Grand Admiral Thrawn, Doria did not introduce into the battle, wisely luring all available and combat-ready New Republic ships onto a small but formidable formation, demonstrating only it to the enemy.
That's why the Republicans grew bold, considering themselves in the majority and intending to teach those who invaded their system a lesson.
And meanwhile, the Olovain was deploying gravity well vectors to lock the system from escape attempts by the "valiant" Republican military.
But he came here not at all to satisfy himself with just Mon Calamari star cruisers, turning them to dust.
Located in the Bremian sector of the Outer Rim Territories, Sullust was one of the largest shipyards in the southern part of the galaxy.
Bremian sector.
The planet Sullust occupied the fourth orbital position from the local sun of the same name.
Located on the Rimma Trade Route, in an area known as the Backward Sector, this world had a type two oxygen-containing atmosphere on its poisonous and heated to various shades surface, and possessed two moons. And if Umnub was just a lifeless chunk of rock, then Sulon—quite an inhabited world.
Reaching more than twelve thousand kilometers in diameter, Sullust, according to all reference books, had a quite intriguing landscape, including mountains, volcanoes, rocky deserts, and caves.
Somewhat similar to Mustafar, Sullust from space attracted travelers with its magma veins, which in reality were endless and deadly dangerous rivers of molten substance covering the entire planet's surface.
Planet Sullust.
Sullustans do not live on the planet's surface and do not keep a large amount of equipment there—it gets clogged with volcanic ash almost immediately, thanks to which the world is often called the "planet of volcanoes."
The locals live in underground caverns, where a stable system of tunnels connects gardens of edible lichens with pools of drinking water.
Here was the headquarters of the SoroSuub Corporation, responsible for both managing the planet and the industry's of this world.
Starships, control systems, hyperdrives. Droids, weapons, astrogation technologies—all this could be found on Sullust.
Or profitably exchanged for the endless import of constantly needed food products and water.
During the Galactic Empire's rule, many bases were built on the planet, and several major cities were blockaded by Imperial troops. The SoroSuub Corporation, which during the Galactic Republic era was only taking steps to influence its own government, with the advent of the New Order, gained full control over the planet.
The corporation declared its full support for the Empire. In exchange for several lucrative contracts with the new government and promises of a guaranteed business future, SoroSuub took a hard line against the Rebel Alliance and its supporters.
This prompted a large number of locals to join the Rebel Alliance, and later—the New Republic, actively participating in their illegal activities to destroy the Imperial government.
The natives didn't like that corporate tycoons had seized control of the planet, so they gladly organized various rebel cells. And then joined the Alliance itself.
It was in this system that the Alliance fleet conducted reconnaissance before striking at Endor.
As a human, Doria couldn't help but marvel at the outrageous hypocrisy of the Sullustans.
They didn't like corporate order, but at the same time, they calmly accepted all the benefits from them, and committed actions aimed at opposing the legitimate authority.
Which they achieved shortly before the year of the Battle of Yavin IV.
After the Battle of Endor, Sullust was one of the first worlds to officially join the Alliance, and then the New Republic, after which it became one of the most influential Republican allies.
Imperial Remnants, in particular Supreme General Sander Delvardus four years ago, tried to conquer Sullust, but suffered defeat at the hands of the locals and their armed forces, with New Republic support.
And now Sullust as a whole and the SoroSuub Corporation were engaged in putting in order the New Republic's light forces.
Those very hundreds of starships—corvettes, frigates, light cruisers—that gleamed with their hulls in the rays of the local star, guarded by a chain of Golan stations.
"Enemy ships have entered firing range," the watch chief reported to Doria. "Conducting ranging salvos."
"Has the Olovain deployed the gravity interdictors?" the Dominion counter-admiral inquired.
"Yes, sir. Vectors two and eleven."
"Inform the rest of the fleet of this information," Doria ordered. "As soon as the enemy closes to fifty units—and that's the distance at which the New Republic's not-so-quality turbolasers finally start hitting—let them jump."
"What will the orders be for the landing order?" the watch chief asked.
In addition to combat forces, Grand Admiral Thrawn also gave him transports necessary to accomplish the assigned task.
Two dozen GR-75 medium transport models, in the depths of which Dominion fighters and specialists languished, ready at any moment to burst onto enemy starships and capture them for the glory of the Dominion.
"Lure the Republicans closer," Doria stated. "Let half the transports exit behind us. Olovain to activate the third generator—deployment vector three."
Such a large number of unarmed (for opposing the enemy) ships would clearly embolden the opponent to take reckless actions.
For example—accelerate to not only fire on combat ships but also damage the transports.
Everything happened exactly that way.
As soon as ten freighters exited hyperspace, the enemy star cruisers rushed forward, hoping first to destroy precisely them.
Moving in a proper rhombus, where each star cruiser was the vertex of the flat figure, the enemy ships inexorably approached the mark indicated by the counter-admiral.
And a few minutes later, they found themselves sandwiched on two sides by pairs of Dreadnought-type heavy cruiser squadrons.
The latter, though they received certain damage from the Mon Calamari ships before restoring their energy shields.
And at that very moment, a dozen enemy fighter squadrons were attacked by twenty dozen TIE fighters.
Emerging from the hangars of the ships that delivered them to the battle site, the Dominion's aviation joined the fray, clearly not intending to lose in numerical superiority.
"Destroyers—maximum speed," Doria ordered. "Olovain to remove the interdictor on vector three and shift to sector one. All transports and second squadron corvettes—jump on vector one."
Surrounding in a wide semicircle the four Mon Calamari star cruisers caught in crossfire from twenty-three Dominion line ships at once, Counter-Admiral Doria couldn't hold back a smile when the communications officers reported panic among the workers of the "yard" for repaired Republican light-class starships.
Chattering in their barely intelligible language, the Sullustans vied to report wherever they could on the planet that right in the middle of the formation of repaired Republican starships, having overcome the orbital defense stations' blocking perimeter, caught by the Olovain's gravity interdictor from a microjump, two dozen Dominion transport ships appeared, instantly beginning to scatter in all directions numerous Droch-type landing ships.
Covered by two dozen Corellian corvettes, which turned multiple enemy fighters into fields of debris, the CR90s like a fiery sword swept through the SoroSuub yards, sweeping away any resistance attempts.
Having caught the corporation off guard with his daring raid, Counter-Admiral Doria contentedly spread his shoulders.
The operational coordinator of the boarding parties was already reporting to him how unprepared the duty crews of Republican starships were in the face of the irresistible force of advancing Dominion stormtroopers.
Whose path was cleared by inexorable and unstoppable droidkas.
Scouts reported that starships of SoroSuub were already deploying from Sulon's orbit to engage his forces.
But that was accounted for too.
In the time it would take the slow starships currently in the system to reach his ships, Doria would manage at least twice to do what he was sent here for by Grand Admiral Thrawn.
Not to mention that surprises were prepared for them too.
"Enemy fighters are engaged, counter-admiral," the watch chief reported.
"Excellent. Order to bomber squadrons—launch. Destroy enemy starships. First strike—on protection systems and engines. Then—at discretion."
"Yes, sir!"
"Order to the pair of Scimitars—strike the enemy reinforcements. Attack—from the rear," most ships are completely unprotected from the stern, so neither Scimitar will be threatened. "Make them regret repairing our enemy's starships."
The Relentless chose as its victim the lead Mon Calamari star cruiser, engaging it in a duel on opposing courses.
The enemy ship's commander clearly accepted the nonverbal offer and concentrated on the flagship Star Destroyer all its power and fury, as only the gunners aboard this ship could muster.
Perfect.
The enemy, with the same sense of folly, pressed forward, quite satisfied that the "I"'s artillery couldn't drain his reinforced SEAL deflector shield.
And the two other cruisers dueling with Impartial and Omnipresent adhered to the same standard tactics.
The last star cruiser was literally choking in the ocean of fire poured on it by the Dominion's heavy cruisers, but desperately clung to the attempt to withstand the barrage, pulling the starships closer to its orbital defense stations.
As if that's not what Doria needed.
"Track the intensity of the enemy barrage," he said, addressing the officer controlling the Star Destroyer's deflector operation. "Reduce it after mass hits by lowering power from the SEAL generators. On my command, be ready to restore shield power."
Meanwhile, the bomber squadrons, reaching their targets, met fierce resistance from the enemy gunners and several New Republic starfighters nearby.
Sustaining certain losses, the Dominion pilots broke through the fiery salvo of the star cruisers' cannoneers, after which the X-wings on their tails were distracted by a battle with a half-squadron of TIE interceptors, recalled by the OCC from the general fighter melee to counter enemy aviation.
"On vectors two and eleven, three enemy squadrons approaching," warned from the right "pit."
"Pilots—general attention," Doria ordered. "Free formations—disengage, prepare to repel attack on vectors."
Help was coming to the enemy—aviation from the orbital defense stations.
"Scimitars report they've worked over two second-model strike frigates," the watch chief reported. "Confirmed destruction of one ship and disabling of the second."
"Next target for them—the nearest Golan-type stations," Doria ordered.
"Order transmitted. Rotation—one minute."
A series of detonations ran along the "back" of the farthest of the four star cruisers—the squadron of TIE bombers from the Relentless bombed excellently, gutting the upper decks.
Judging by how energetically the enemy starship began to turn and lay on the reverse course— it no longer had the advantage of the SEAL system.
Which is what Doria was after.
"All heavy cruisers—fire all guns at the damaged MC80a," he ordered.
The Dreadnoughts continued to spew fire at the indicated target, flooding the Mon Calamari creation from bow to stern with flashes of turbolaser hits.
The starship's hull blackened, in places yielding to the onslaught of green plasma and breaching the ship's integrity.
The "plowed" field by the bombers was subjected to relentless fire from the heavy cruisers.
Internal damage worsened with each new targeted hit.
Bulkheads melted and collapsed, the deck buckled, and equipment simply vaporized.
A huge cloud of debris already surrounded the doomed ship when two flashes lit up space—two other squadrons executed the combat order.
But unlike the Relentless's bomber pilots, these guys made more precise drops.
The aft sections of both MC80as after launching a hurricane of proton torpedoes most resembled charred chunks of rotten stumps.
Cleanly licked engines and protection systems opened the ships to strikes from Omnipresent and Impartial.
The Relentless's opponent, realizing he was alone and wouldn't be let out of the encirclement, decided on a breakthrough.
The ship commander, clearly on the verge of euphoria from his subordinates managing to drop the Star Destroyer's shield to just ten percent, decided he'd caught luck by the tail.
"Significant damage inflicted on both stations." the watch chief reported. "They're disabled, launching escape pods and vehicles into space."
"Evacuating," Doria said satisfied, watching as squadrons from three Destroyers, having destroyed the remnants of the enemy star cruisers' aviation, distributed to counter reinforcements. "Transmit to captured ships—begin movement. Safe corridor laid. Destroy all starships that can't be captured and towed away."
The orbital stations allowed covering each other's turbolaser and launcher sectors.
But, disabled, they couldn't even care for themselves, let alone save New Republic starships from hijacking.
More than two hundred ships—Corellian corvettes, escort frigates, Arquitens-class light cruisers, Marauder corvettes, Consular-class and other rarities that the enemy restored and modernized for war against the Dominion, would be useful to the Dominion itself.
At least for patrolling the metropolis and showing the flag.
But the enemy still had hundreds and hundreds of ships fit for further exploitation.
The artillery of trophy ships, controlled by minimal crews, couldn't properly damage this fleet.
"Enemy fleet at one thousand four hundred units from the Relentless," the watch chief reported to Doria.
"Inform Impartial and Omnipresent to move to breakthrough, cover our new ships with fire supported by TIE fighters," he ordered.
The aviation wings of both Destroyers were now engaged in a deadly melee with the damaged stations' aviation.
"Sir, shields down to seven percent."
"Enemy at twenty units from us and closing fast."
"His shields at thirteen percent."
"Excellent," Doria stated. "Activate SEAL, restore shields. Fire on the enemy's bow. Our bombers—strike this ship."
How long can a simple star cruiser withstand concentrated fire from an "I"?
Long enough—if its deflector protection systems and energy pumping haven't been seriously shelled by then.
For a moment, when the Relentless's shields began to fill with new energy, the flagship star cruiser's gunners fell silent, trying to figure out what had happened.
That was enough for the bomber pilots to dump their entire load of proton torpedoes on the ship, finally tearing off its energy veil and destroying the gun nest blisters.
Helpless and scorched, this ship tried to maneuver but was too close to the Star Destroyer, which wasn't going to let new prey out of its claws so easily.
Plasma tore metal to shreds, leaving it in vacuum as hardening droplets of molten substance.
The starship turned its stern to the Relentless, allowing polygonal conditions to shoot its engines.
When the enemy could no longer move except by inertia, TIE bombers struck again.
The flagship exploded, vaporizing with its entire crew.
By this time, the trophy starships under heavy cruiser escort had already left the guarded perimeter, and the interceptors had dealt with their targets.
The Relentless was finishing off the enemy star cruisers, while Impartial and Omnipresent, with corvette fleet support, aviation, and physics, were destroying military ships.
Mostly these were extremely ancient starships, suitable only for brand watch duty and returned from oblivion only for numbers and to replace normal starships on the battlefield.
A pair of Scimitars was returning from the fifth raid into the Sullustan group's rear.
Damaged but not destroyed fighters could no longer do anything, the enemy had released all available aviation.
Starships burned at the yards and in the "yard," and the huge "herd," guarded by Dominion heavy cruisers and corvettes, had already approached the system jump point.
The Relentless, Impartial, and Omnipresent brought up the rear, allowing the Olovain to hide in the very center of the formation.
Leaving behind only pain, horror, fear of the future, and certainty that no one else could protect them, Counter-Admiral Doria's squadron left the Sullust star system.
And the first starships arrived at the scene of the massacre a significant time after the Republican forces' slaughter ended.
Only to engage in rescuing the crews of the orbital defense stations.
Coruscant learned of the attack on Sullust a few hours later.
But by that time, a simple transport ship that had been near the sector relay all the time since the start of Doria's attack and with a masking screen on hybridium blocked transmission of any signals both to the communication device and beyond, had long dissolved into the regional hyperspace routes.
As had Admiral Doria's squadron itself with their huge convoy of trophies.
The New Republic didn't know it yet, but the attack on Sullust would soon come back to haunt them.
And very loudly.
And very painfully.
But that would be later.
And at the present moment, Grand Admiral Thrawn, sitting in the semi-darkness of his apartments, was only preparing to move to the next step.
***
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