"Just think about it," Tanda Pryl said, barely noticeably shaking her head. "Of course, they promised me that the Thunder wouldn't get bored, but to this extent..."
Liquidator, Stalker, Inexorable, Abyssal Fury, Point of No Return, Twilight, Red Gauntlet, Void Wanderer, Wolf's Claw, An'ya Kuro, Implacable, Motivator, Ill Wind, Pulsar, Skystrike, Invincible, Kruger, and, of course, the Thunder itself.
Eighteen Star Destroyers, in a wide arc encompassing the outer perimeter of Sluis Van's orbit.
And that's only the Imperial-class of the first and second generations.
There are also two "threes," but they have a separate assignment, and Captain Pryl didn't know what it was.
Ah yes... There are also the Victories.
Adamant, Steel Aurora, Crusader, Aspiration, Triumph, Monarch, Emancipator, Shining Star, Pathfinder, Rancor Fury, and Nexu Smile, formerly known in the Republican fleet as Swift Liberty, Selonian Flame, and Corellian Fire, respectively.
Retribution was also present, which had previously served in the fleet of the Ciutric Hegemony under the name Emperor's Wisdom.
Thirty Star Destroyers, covered by sixty Corellian CR90 corvettes and DP20 frigates.
Not to mention the armada of TIE Interceptors and TIE Bombers that rolled over the enemy fleet like a tsunami, showing no mercy to anyone in its path.
The Thunder came under fire from several X-wings, but they achieved no results.
But the operators of the Star Destroyer's laser cannons did.
So the enemy did not escape retribution and continued its flight only as pieces of scrap metal.
Directly ahead, a Mon Calamari Star Cruiser was clumsily turning around with the clear intention of getting as far away from the battle zone as possible.
It was accompanied by one squadron of B-wings, which intended to engage the approaching Dominion Interceptors.
"Shift fire to the starship at point eight-six-zero!" Tanda ordered quickly. "Turn right three degrees. Reduce speed to one-third of cruising."
The pilot executed the order precisely, and now the Thunder, along with the Stalker that joined the barrage, were shooting the Mon Calamari Star Cruiser literally like in a shooting range.
This ship had already sustained damage to the aft section when the main Destroyer forces had just arrived at the destination.
The sublight engines were damaged, but not enough to deprive the ship of the ability to move briskly enough.
And the enemy managed to raise the deflectors.
However, that no longer mattered — together, the Destroyers would quickly collapse the enemy's shields and then destroy the starship, while the Stalker's aviation protected both Destroyers from stray attacks, and the Thunder's Interceptors, defending both bomber squadrons, allowed them to strike the targeted ship.
The faster the enemy's ships were destroyed, the better.
***
Iella Wessiri turned away from the central viewport when, before her eyes, two Mon Calamari Star Cruisers turned into fireballs, instantly incinerating both themselves and the nearby enemy fighters.
The Corellian woman cast an angry glance at Grand Admiral Thrawn, calmly seated in his chair.
"It seems you mentioned thirty Destroyers," Skywalker muttered timidly.
The young woman looked at Antilles, who silently watched the attack on the Fourth Fleet, wondering how this milksop could be the core of the entire plan if even such scenes didn't disturb him and didn't awaken righteous anger in his chest?
Her compatriot seemed to be trying not to look at the one with whom he had once attacked the first Death Star together.
"Do you have any complaints, Jedi Skywalker?" Grand Admiral Thrawn inquired.
"There are clearly more ships here... And you mentioned thirty..." the girl cast another glance at the Jedi and nearly rejoiced at what she saw.
She had been hasty, thinking poorly of him — Skywalker's face was frozen in grim determination.
He was just pretending.
Playing some game of his own.
But what and why?
"I mentioned three dozen," the Grand Admiral corrected his interlocutor. "It's not the same thing."
"You're just a butcher," Iella said contemptuously. "You have no respect for the lives of sentients!"
"There's a war going on," Thrawn replied in a bored tone. "You want to kill your enemies to achieve your own goals, I want to realize my plans. If killing is necessary for that — then it will happen."
"The philosophy of a maniac," Wessiri threw. "Trying to justify mass murders with your twisted philosophy!"
"I have no intention of convincing you of anything," Thrawn declared. "You are merely observers. If you draw the proper conclusions — it will be useful to you in the future. If not... I pity you."
Iella looked at the Jedi.
He silently nodded to her in agreement.
Well... Now the hardest part remained.
How to distract the guards?
***
The Millennium Falcon was just circling the Star Cruiser when Han noticed a cone-shaped protrusion located directly above one of the numerous bulges in the hull.
However, since the freighter was fleeing from a TIE Interceptor on its tail, it wasn't possible to examine it in detail.
Only five minutes later, when Leia and Lando destroyed the pursuer, was it possible to return to the ship and delve into what was happening with all due attention.
The MC80 was exchanging fire with one of the Dominion Destroyers, but it was all happening sluggishly and unnaturally.
It took several orbits around the ship before Han understood what was going on.
The plasma borers had somehow attached themselves to several parts of the starship.
The bridge, the auxiliary command post, the communications equipment compartment...
The battle was raging around, but inside the Corellian, a feeling arose that what was happening here and now was more important.
"Lando," he called his old friend over the intercom. "How are things there?"
"Do you really want to know?" Calrissian inquired to the accompaniment of laser shots.
"Your mole rats have latched onto the hull of one of the Star Cruisers," the Corellian explained. "I want to check what's going on."
"I don't think now is the time for me to be in the cockpit," Calrissian complained. "There are more Interceptors here than fleas on a Wookiee."
"Then maybe you have an idea what to use the mole rats for in such an interesting way?" Solo inquired.
"Nothing comes to mind," Lando admitted. "These things are designed for mining. They cut their way with plasma cutters, break down the rock, which is sorted..."
"I doubt Thrawn wanted to melt down our fleet into scrap metal this way," Han grimaced. "Honey, are you okay?"
"Strangely enough — yes," his wife replied. "But I think I've seen Lando's mole rats not only on the cruiser we're near now. Can we check?"
"Of course," Han glanced at the chronometer. "Our fire ships will be ready soon, but I think we have a couple of minutes to spare."
He had already passed the nose of the Star Cruiser.
Han veered the ship toward the next ship, began circling it...
"The same thing," he said. "Bridge, auxiliary command post, communications compartment."
"Can we contact these ships?" Leia inquired.
Han flipped the switches on the control panel.
"Dead," he replied. "Their communication system is like shut off."
"Things are bad," Lando commented. "Maybe they burned out the communications equipment with plasma cutters and thus left the fleet without coordination."
It actually sounds reasonable.
Depriving ships of the ability to coordinate their actions means effectively disrupting the coordination of the entire fleet!
Garm Bel Iblis won't be able to give orders promptly, and the Star Cruiser crews won't be able to execute them.
At one point while circling the Star Cruiser, the Corellian saw a TIE Interceptor fly out from under the belly of the Mon Calamari ship right in front of him.
Which immediately opened fire on the Falcon.
It seemed to him that the cockpit canopy had melted, but the Corellian reacted automatically, throwing the ship to the side.
Several seconds passed before Han realized he didn't hear the sound of escaping air, and the glazing was intact.
Calrissian was yelling something in the headphones.
"Everything's fine," Han declared, wrestling with the Falcon's controls.
The freighter was bucking, and it became clear that although the Dominion pilot hadn't destroyed the cockpit, he had managed to damage something.
"Leia, are you okay?" he inquired with concern in his voice.
"Yes," his wife replied after a second. "That Interceptor won't bother us anymore."
"Good girl," Han praised. "And now hold on — I want to check something about the placement of the mole rats."
Despite having escaped the Interceptor, dozens more were darting around.
Which didn't add optimism.
Han chose a Star Cruiser to the right of him to test his hunch.
Bringing the Falcon to the part of the hull where the bridge protrusion was located, he reduced speed and slowly positioned the ship, matching speeds to be able to see what was happening inside.
A couple of seconds were enough for him to see the red flashes raging throughout the Star Cruiser's bridge.
There could be no more doubts.
"General Iblis," he opened the channel to the flagship, pulling his starship away from the boarded cruiser. "These truncated cones aren't just mole rats. They're drop pods — Thrawn is deploying troops from them. Straight onto the bridges and communications equipment."
"Three Interceptors on the left!" Lando warned.
Han banked: the Millennium Falcon was already swaying from side to side, evoking not the best thoughts.
One of the opponents raked the ship's port side with his cannons but then turned into a fireball when hit by a burst from the gun turret.
His wife was on a roll today, though.
"We know," Bel Iblis's voice came from the speaker. "Thrawn is tearing our ships to pieces. We've lost contact with all the starships nearby. All those reached by ion cannons or plasma borers have stopped responding to attempts to call them on communication channels."
Yes, that's an understatement.
From the outer borders, thirty-one Dominion Destroyers, supported by six dozen light ships, are gnawing away at one-third of the Fourth Fleet's Star Cruisers.
Those spacecraft that stayed close to the disabled Imperial Destroyers are now no better themselves — they're being fired upon by ion cannons, swarmed by all types of aviation.
And those Star Cruisers caught between these two categories are being attacked with mole rats.
"So what do we do?" Han asked absently.
"Command the fire ships," Bel Iblis ordered. "I'll try to save the remnants of the fleet. If it works, we'll break through their Destroyers and leave the Sluis Van system."
"Another defeat?" Han grimaced.
"Either that, and we save at least some part of the fleet, or we all die here and effectively lose operational control over the southern part of the galaxy," his compatriot cut off.
"Understood," Han grumbled, switching to the channel with the officers responsible for preparing the fire ships. "Sir... Maybe we'll all fall here, but this might be our last real chance to destroy this blue devil. Even at the cost of the entire fleet, but..."
"Negative, General Solo," Bel Iblis said dryly and formally. "The problem is much bigger than it seems. If the Grand Admiral succeeds in realizing what he has planned, he will be unstoppable in principle. Whichever option we choose, it's a losing one beforehand. The question is only the severity of the consequences. Thrawn does not intend to destroy the Fourth Fleet's Star Cruisers. He is using plasma borers to capture them."
Han felt everything inside him tighten into a knot.
***
Something quite massive, rounded, and spitting fire rushed past the Kruger's bridge.
Captain Reder cast a displeased glance at his subordinates.
"Why did that B-wing break through the inner perimeter?!" he addressed his question to the watch officer.
"We have losses on the left flank, sir," the officer replied. "Two machines went for repairs, the replacements arriving are currently pursuing the enemy. Security restored."
"Do not allow breakthroughs again!"
And indeed: the New Republic starfighter soon got its full measure and exploded, turning into a beautiful plasma cloud near the Reder's nose.
As soon as a pair of TIE Interceptors began correcting their own oversight.
By this time, the Star Destroyer had completed its turn, just as the advancing New Republic Star Cruiser became visible through the central viewport.
"Fire from all guns!" Reder ordered.
The Reder switched to the new target, volley after volley stripping particles from its deflector field.
Which immediately restored its power.
But the enemy also failed to breach the Star Destroyer's defenses.
Having undergone partial modernization, the ship now had the SEAL system in its arsenal and could withstand hits not only from this opponent but also from two neighboring Star Cruisers, which it had been bombarding with its own artillery until now.
Now, switching to the target that clearly intended to escape the system. Thereby exiting the zone of artificial gravity.
"Report to the Bellicose, Steel Aurora, and Crusader that we are transferring two of our targets to their care," Reder ordered, fully understanding that ceasing the current pressure on the Republican ships made no sense.
The enemy was clearly realizing how serious their situation was.
A powerful blocking detachment, large forces from Grand Admiral Thrawn's side, the need to fight on several fronts at once — these are not the simplest realities of war.
Over the years of independent war against pirates and rebels, Der had learned to treat enemy commanders with respect, or at least attention and understanding.
Idiots, whoever they were and whoever they worked for, don't live long and don't get ships under their command.
But he hadn't encountered any particular geniuses among those he had fought either.
The same here.
He observed quite competent actions from the enemy Star Cruiser commanders.
Of course, this category did not include half of all the ships here — because you can't fight much when a Dominion boarding party falls on your head right from the ceiling bulkhead, exterminating everything alive in the most important compartments for the ship's combat capability and survival.
But the rest, overall, acted competently.
These were no longer the rebel insurgents, among whom only one in ten or a hundred had a military education and the ability to handle a starship as military science dictates.
This was already an army.
Quite professional, battle-hardened, having gone through more than one battle and with many victories behind it.
And now it was evident how the enemy commander was deliberately repositioning the starships still under his control, pulling them a bit farther from where they could be attacked by plasma borers.
Meaning they had already assessed the threat of the latter and would try to avoid it in every way.
The Kruger, like a jackhammer, pounded turbolaser bolts into the hull of the opponent moving toward it.
Captain Reder noted how enemy starfighters appeared one after another from behind the Star Cruiser's stern.
"Attention to the perimeter," he said. "Vector two. Mixed enemy squadron. Fifth Interceptor squadron — destroy the enemy. Bomber squadron prepare for takeoff."
A certain plan had already formed in his head.
The fact that the Victories, in no way inferior in power to the Imperials, were now covering his flanks was good, of course.
But the Kruger commander did not intend to get drawn into a prolonged shootout with the MC80 (and otherwise, this shell with continuously regenerating shields simply couldn't be destroyed).
It was enough that the regular fleet's TIE Bombers, piloted by the best ace pilots (and their clones) from the entire Dominion, had proven time and again how effective air strikes could actually be.
This time, they would repeat their success.
***
It took Leia several minutes to digest what Bel Iblis had said.
Now everything made sense.
The puzzle pieces were coming together.
Calrissian's missing mole rats.
Their disappearance from sight for a long time was clear evidence that work had been done on them.
Turning them into boarding capsules.
Thanks to their thick armor, these small ships, designed to work in conditions close to metal melting, could become an excellent, and most importantly — cheap — alternative to the boarding shuttles usually used by the Empire.
Thrawn used the delay of the operation at Sluis Van specifically so that the Fourth Fleet would arrive here with all its cruiser power.
That's why Thrawn used long-range communication suppression means — he was dealing with the Republicans one by one.
First, he attacked the shipyards and gained control over them.
He got rid of the fleet covering the orbital docks and led them into hyperspace.
He figured out Bel Iblis's plan regarding the transport ships and destroyed most of them, freeing up space for his starships from the system's perimeter.
He moved the main mass of ships he was willing to sacrifice to the heart of the orbital position, after which he began capturing defenseless, undermanned warships that the New Republic had previously turned into freighters and hadn't had time to fully restore and crew.
He disabled starships of Imperial design that could fight him, successfully using the "layered" defense system built by the New Republic's Supreme Commander of Defense Forces against them, masterfully using transports against the Republicans themselves.
First, when the invasion was only from the outer part of the orbit, Thrawn used the clutter of freighters to avoid being fired upon by "Imperial starships" and engaged the sector fleet in battle.
The tactic of "cluttering" the orbit with transport ships was supposed to protect the Republicans from attacks by "miracle bombers," which the Dominion had already used extremely successfully.
But in the end, it turned out that these same ships prevented the New Republic from realizing fire superiority.
Thrawn destroyed the "inner" layer of transports, after which he disabled and captured the "Imperial ships."
And now, having clamped the Fourth Fleet's Star Cruisers between his two armadas, he was partially destroying them and partially intending to capture them.
As he had been doing for the past five months.
With three dozen captured cruisers and one Super Star Destroyer, he managed to portray the New Republic as the aggressor toward Lianna.
And what would happen when he had twice or even three times as many such ships?!
Given that he already had two SSDs!
And hundreds of light ships that could be used for rear protection, guarding communications, patrolling hyperspace routes, transporting small batches of military cargo...
And now he had gained control over twenty-five orbital docks, hundreds of Imperial ships: Star Destroyers, battlecruisers, interdictor cruisers, escort carriers... Everything with large internal volume had been turned into freighters and ended up in Sluis Van's orbit.
And Thrawn had laid his, now proverbial, grasping hand on all of it.
Every clash with the Grand Admiral's forces was part of this huge picture — this battle.
He methodically worked out the elements necessary for this general battle on them.
Planetary blockade — at Kay Fel.
Breakthrough to the shipyards — at Hast.
Full-scale battle — in orbit of Sullust, Coruscant, Sarapin, Bestine.
"Miracle bombers" — at Ossus (and possibly in other battles, just not all are known yet).
Time after time, he built up the potential of his war machine, pulling off so many combinations at once that it was simply impossible to keep track!
He captured ships by attacking systems and convoys, small detachments, simultaneously testing the combat capability and durability of his ships and crews, and now he had arranged a control exam for them.
Bel Iblis, and before him Gial Ackbar, claimed they had managed to understand this commander.
But in fact, it was he who studied them.
Scrupulously, almost under a microscope.
Studied, described, tested, and brushed aside like a mechanic discards used and no longer needed rags.
"Full readiness of the fire ships," Han reported over the intercom. "Leia, Lando... I can't ask the same of you, but I need to be in the thick of the battle for the droids to follow my signals. I'm their "guide," so..."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Calrissian said impatiently. "You're rushing into the thick of it again, and you want to ask us to sit on the sidelines, watch your genius. Sorry, buddy, but today that won't work."
"And besides, if you've forgotten, we once promised each other something," Leia smiled, turning to memories that for a moment quenched the rage boiling inside her.
Yes, perhaps the Grand Admiral had managed to outcalculate Ackbar and Iblis, but not what enemy commanders learn before their demise: those who mess with Skywalkers and Solos bitterly regret it.
Leia closed her eyes for a moment, calling upon the Force.
"Luke, if you can hear me... Run from the Chimaera," she mentally addressed her plea to her brother.
But the Force remained deaf to her pleas.
And the gaping blackness on the enemy flagship's bridge seemed dead and inaccessible.
But it simply couldn't be otherwise.
***
Luke took a tiny step forward, noting that Wedge and Iella were already ready to implement the plan.
Absurd, with not a single chance of success, but it simply couldn't be otherwise.
How many times had they emerged victorious from similar situations, getting into them with exactly the same motivation?
"Enemy transports have begun moving," Vice Admiral Pellaeon suddenly said.
Luke froze for a moment, turning his attention to what was happening beyond the main viewport.
Hundreds of medium GR75 transports, famous since the Rebel Alliance days, were turning and moving toward Grand Admiral Thrawn's fleet, holding in the inner part of Sluis Van's guarded perimeter.
"It seems General Solo is leading this attack," Pellaeon noted, addressing Thrawn, who was silently observing everything.
Luke took another step.
Skywalker glanced around for a moment.
Iella and Wedge were ready.
And through the ongoing battle, the cargo ships moved like swift white-gray lightning.
He saw on the screen that one sector of the Chimaera's deflector shield was slowly but steadily turning red.
The flagship, though holding in the second line of attack, yielding precedence to heavy cruisers and corvettes, was still taking a considerable number of turbolaser shots to its shields.
"Restore protection," Vice Admiral Pellaeon ordered.
Luke heard Antilles swear softly at the same time as the deflector color changed from red to green.
"You have the SEAL system on your ship," the Corellian said.
"You're perceptive, General," Thrawn praised him.
Luke took another tiny step toward his goal.
He watched the battlefield, hoping there was always another way to solve the problem.
But, unfortunately, nothing else came to mind yet.
Half a dozen warships were hanging nearby, all firing like mad, and the transports were advancing like the unstoppable snowstorm on Hoth he had once had the misfortune to get caught in.
"Your assumptions about the enemy's plan, Vice Admiral," Thrawn suddenly said.
"Minimal cover, large number of starships incapable of full combat," he began listing quietly. "If you think about it, shortly before this, the enemy divided their transports. Some were evacuating crews from the Star Destroyers we've already towed to the rear, while others were constantly receiving and sending ships..."
"Doesn't it remind you of anything?" the Grand Admiral inquired.
Pellaeon didn't answer.
But Luke guessed.
Judging by Wedge's expression — he wasn't the only one.
"Bel Iblis is using ramming tactics against us, which he already employed during our attack on his base," well, this Vice Admiral Pellaeon is also a perceptive man.
Or qualified enough to unravel the maneuver.
"Exactly," Thrawn agreed. "With the only exception that now it's not a Dreadnought flying at us, but several dozen transport ships, they have no armor, and this suicidal attack is led by another Corellian. I suspect that Lando Calrissian and Councilor Leia Organa Solo are also on board."
Luke used the officers' conversation to invisibly move his feet even closer.
Now only a couple of meters separated him from Thrawn.
"The attack must be thwarted," the Grand Admiral said calmly. "Command, Gilad. The Chimaera's target is the Millennium Falcon. It's unlikely the Republicans found enough suicidals for such a stunt. So the starships are controlled by droids, and General Solo is coordinating them from his ship."
"Yes, sir," the Vice Admiral replied, bringing the comlink to his lips. "Fleet attention. The enemy is using transport ships as fire ships. — Use any means to eliminate the danger and keep the ships combat-ready. Priority target — Corellian YT-1300 model freighter."
Disconnecting the communication device, he looked at the nearby watch officer:
"Artillery, target the Falcon and destroy it," he ordered. "Pilots, move the Destroyer to a higher echelon."
A second later, the Star Destroyer's turbolasers came alive with a trumpet roar, spewing streams of green plasma from their insatiable maws.
Luke watched with bated breath as the nimble freighter began dancing in oceans of plasma, dodging hits.
But the transport starships were clearly unlucky.
Fighters, gunboats, corvettes, Star Destroyers, and heavy cruisers fired at them, striving to prevent the fire ships from colliding with their targets.
With each turbolaser or laser cannon hit, the hulls of the freighters darkened, bulged, foamed, and evaporated.
If not pierced outright, of course.
The enemy was losing starship after starship, but there were still too many left.
"Multiple targets, sir!"
"Vector?" Pellaeon inquired.
"Moving near the ships, at the same speed as the transports," explained Pellaeon.
"Resistance?"
"None, sir."
"So that's how," Thrawn looked meaningfully at his Vice Admiral. "What do you think?"
"I assume they decided to repeat our trick with launching TIE fighters using special equipment. But using cargo containers to inflict greater damage on our forces."
"Well," Thrawn said. "Let them try. Bel Iblis is trying to split our forces, as I did an hour and a half ago with his own fleet. He hopes this will allow him to focus on repelling the main forces' attack, taking advantage of the fact that in that case, we can't press his starships from two sides. A fatal mistake to think I didn't foresee countermeasures against this. Ensure that barrage fire rids our forces of this scrap metal. You know..." he paused briefly. "Perhaps I'll cancel the order for the Chimaera to attack the Millennium Falcon. Our guns are more needed in destroying the enemy's fire ships..."
Luke exhaled almost imperceptibly in relief.
"... Let Black Wing squadron destroy General Solo and everyone on board his ship," Thrawn concluded his speech.
The Jedi felt dryness in his mouth when the Grand Admiral gave him his infernal gaze.
"After destroying Rogue Squadron, Lieutenant Creb and his subordinates need a new manual to maintain their qualifications in tone."
Luke looked at Wedge's back.
His old friend was clenching his fists so hard it seemed his fingers would pierce his palms.
Luke no longer had any excuse for himself.
He took another tiny step toward the monster.
***
Any first Star Destroyer can destroy ships.
And roughly every second crew.
But capturing...
"Commodore Stormaer, I'm not sure this is exactly what is expected of us," the commander of the Void Wanderer said doubtfully.
"Captain Abyss," Antonias said as patiently as possible, "how many MC80-type starships are in the New Republic's fleet?"
"Several thousand," he replied wearily. "My Destroyer is just turning two such into debris right now."
"But their Home One modification is quite rare," Stormaer said confidently. "There are only three units in the entire Fourth Fleet. And two have already been destroyed in the current battle. This one is the last. And such a ship is clearly needed by the Dominion."
Because this starship is almost equal to an Imperial Star Destroyer in armor, its armament is quite serious (but inferior to the Imperial), and it can carry up to ten starfighter squadrons on board.
All this, multiplied by shields as strong as those of the MC80 Liberty and the presence of a real, full-fledged auxiliary command post (not a compartment repurposed from ordinary premises, as with the Liberties) and a headquarters compartment, made this starship excellent command ships.
Or strike carriers.
By comparative characteristics, this type of starship could, with proper use of its artillery and air wing, stand against an Imperial.
And therefore — it must be captured.
But for that, the Abyssal Fury needed to be "backed up" by fire — a large number of ion cannons and aviation.
To ensure that the boarding shuttles and the few plasma borers with working life support systems reached the target intact, such superiority was also necessary.
"The Void Wanderer will cover you from its direction," Captain Abyss said.
"In that case — let's work," Stormaer said enthusiastically, turning to the watch officers and giving the necessary orders.
Two Imperials, both "ones," like other ships of the same type, as well as modernized Victories, had long switched to semi-encirclement tactics, wedging into the formation of the Fourth Fleet's Star Cruisers.
But they did not advance beyond the front lines, in accordance with the Grand Admiral's instructions, preferring ranged combat.
Snapping back with all barrels, the Void Wanderer and Abyssal Fury advanced across the battlefield toward the intended victim.
TIE Interceptors, receiving the appropriate orders, withdrew from local battles, converging on their carrier ships, ensuring their safety from enemy aviation attacks.
The sought Star Cruiser was accompanied by two other MC80s, but of the Liberty type.
It had not yet "acquired" additional details in the form of plasma borers, but the stern already showed clear traces of a bomber strike.
Numerous engines were either maimed or destroyed, and with the remaining sublights, the formation's flagship couldn't go far.
It was effectively on the left flank of the entire Republican formation, which was being mercilessly pressed by Dominion ships.
And now, with a coordinated strike, both Destroyers could completely collapse the flank, thereby opening a breach in the Republicans' formation.
"Bomber squadrons — launch," Stormaer commanded. "Escort — standard. Corvettes — support the attack with a ten-second delay. Squadrons one through three — join fifteen seconds later."
Abyss followed his formation commander's order, and two dozen TIE Bombers left the main hangars of the Destroyers.
Under the care of two Interceptor squadrons, they briskly set course for the MC80 Home One type.
The enemy air wing reacted immediately, rushing to intercept the small ships posing a serious threat to one of the rarest types of Star Cruisers in the Republican Defense Forces.
Delighted by such "weak" resistance, the enemy's starfighters, seventy-two strong, intended to meet just four Dominion squadrons — a couple of bombers and the same number of TIE Interceptors.
It was precisely to lure out the enemy fighters that Stormaer used gradual reinforcement introduction.
By the time the air wings allocated to repel the raid from all three Star Cruisers engaged in battle with the attackers, they no longer had time to react promptly to the two Corellian CR90 corvettes joining the fight.
And this became a fatal mistake for those enemy pilots sent to eliminate the Dominion starships.
Engaged in battle with TIE Interceptors, they reacted untimely to the corvettes' appearance, whose crews had long honed their skills in destroying starfighters.
Stormaer tore himself away from observing the battle, attracted by powerful flashes on the other side of the Republican ships' formation.
New Republic transports were ramming Dominion heavy cruisers.
Damaged and slow even in ideal technical condition, the Dreadnoughts could hardly dodge such strikes, no matter how hard their crews tried.
Beaten in the first part of the battle, the starships perished, receiving critical hits to their hulls.
The angular starships broke in half, crumbled into pieces, turning into local supernovas.
More than half of the GR-75s didn't reach their targets, destroyed by Dominion fire, but those that did break through were enough to accomplish the task.
Heavy cruisers were dying.
Corvettes and frigates exploded, also falling victim to New Republic fire ships.
Five Star Destroyers, towed from the line of contact with the enemy, also did not survive such "close acquaintance," and their disfigured hulks drifted slowly, abandoned by the tugs.
Stormaer felt a sinking feeling in his stomach.
Five Star Destroyers in one blow!
Oh, what the hell is going on?!
But this fact only confirmed his desire to capture the Home One.
And now nothing could stop the Abyss.
Both TIE Interceptor air wings, accompanied by two battle-scarred Corellian corvettes, burst into the close perimeter defense zone of the three Star Cruisers like swift hunters, leaving only the debris of six enemy squadrons in their wake.
To the accompaniment of turbolasers and ion cannons from the Void Wanderer and Abyssal Fury, the MC80s had to fight back from all sides.
The scattered and fragmented Republican cover units could not provide sufficient resistance.
The bombers, though suffering some losses, did their job.
A series of explosions — internal and external — disabled the escort cruisers, leaving the Home One alone with two Star Destroyers.
Circling the starship similar to the hyped flagship of the Rebel Alliance (and then the New Republic) from two sides, the Destroyers proceeded to methodically break through its defenses.
With simultaneous troop deployment.
Launched using tractor beams, plasma borers with life support systems (unlike their remotely piloted counterparts without similar equipment) embedded into the enemy's starship's thick armor like darts, dotting its smooth hull contours with truncated cones.
Bridge, engine compartment, reactor, navigation deck...
Every battery, every deck, every remotely important patch of the starship's hull was now dotted with truncated cones.
The boarding vanguard was already on board the starship.
And the struggle for control over it had begun.
Antonias had no doubt that Grand Admiral Thrawn had not concentrated all the plasma borers containing live boarders, not droids, on his Destroyer for nothing.
Stormaer was almost certain that the Supreme Commander shared his taste for trophies, which is why he had placed the best boarding stormtroopers under his command.
Now, encased in the hulls of numerous Gamma-class assault shuttles, the second wave of troops, reinforced with heavy equipment — B2-HA droids and droidekas — was moving to aid the boarding party.
Support forces that simply couldn't be placed inside the mole rats with live troops present.
The Void Wanderer and Abyssal Fury disgorged all the assault-transport ships they had and returned to finishing off the damaged Liberties from the artillery barrage.
With the Home One, everything was clear anyway.
There hadn't been a single task that Dominion stormtroopers couldn't handle.
***
"Sir, the fire ship attack has failed," Han shouted, trying to shout over the roar of inert gas escaping from a punctured pipe in the corridor.
"I wouldn't say that," Bel Iblis said dryly. "We destroyed his heavy cruisers — all the Dreadnoughts he brought with him that haven't yet turned to dust from our cruisers' volleys. As well as Nebulon-B frigates and many corvettes, not to mention that his armed freighters are done for, and half of Cavil's Corsairs grouping has been exterminated."
"And additionally destroyed five Star Destroyers he had his eye on," Leia declared, plopping into the seat next to her husband. "Too bad we couldn't smear his interdictor cruisers."
"Um... sweetie?" Han inquired, directing the freighter into a crevice between two huge debris pieces. "Don't think I'm nitpicking, but... Why aren't you at the gun?"
Just a Dreadnought broken into pieces.
Perfect for escaping the pair of TIE Avengers on the tail.
After the fire ships' destruction, there was no need for the Millennium Falcon to attack the enemy fleet remnants alone.
The starships had accomplished their task — Thrawn's heavy cruisers destroyed, a heap of debris created, due to which part of the Dominion fleet couldn't properly harm the Fourth Fleet.
So risking was pointless.
If they knew for sure that Luke or Wedge was on the Chimaera, Han wouldn't hesitate to rush to the Destroyer and certainly come up with a rescue plan — half consisting of audacity, half — luck.
But there was no such data, so better to take care of themselves.
"I'd gladly stay there," Leia declared, "but we don't have it anymore."
"Pity," Han replied. "It was my favorite turret. How's Lando?"
"He's fixing the punctured pipe," his wife explained. "And the conduit two meters further. And the distribution panel. And the converter..."
"Well, let him get to work then," Han smiled, banking sharply and pulling the freighter out from under the nose of a TIE Interceptor that appeared out of nowhere. "Looks like these guys have opened hunting season on us."
"As if it was any different before," Leia grumbled.
"General," Han addressed the commander, "how else can we help?"
"Thrawn is attacking us with mole rats," Bel Iblis said. "Sixty percent of the ships are fighting independently — and losing. We've lost contact with them, and judging by how they barely respond to Star Destroyer volleys, the crew is fighting Dominion boarding parties. I'm pulling the remaining starships farther away. The left flank has collapsed, and we're threatened with encirclement by Star Destroyer forces. Their modernized Victories are causing us plenty of pain and gray hairs. Antilles was right — they're equal in power to the first series of Imperials. And with anti-ship missiles, they even surpass them."
"That's wonderful that you've noticed it too," Han was just pulling the ship away from one such starship, "but we're effectively losing the fleet."
"I know that, Han," Bel Iblis said bitterly. "We're trying our best to coordinate our actions, but more and more ships are losing contact with us due to the mole rats. We've destroyed plenty of Dominion ships — more than in the entire campaign so far, but I have to state that in the Battle of Sluis Van, we won't defeat Thrawn. We need to withdraw the ships while Thrawn hasn't landed his plasma borers on each of them, and the New Republic doesn't lose an entire fleet. I don't know what boarding forces he's using, but the mole rats are delivering something greater and deadlier to our Star Cruisers than simple stormtroopers."
"Loss of contact," Han mumbled. "There's something to that..."
"What are you talking about?" his wife inquired.
"I just can't figure out why Thrawn is blocking only long-range communication," Solo explained.
"Yes, that question bothers me too," Bel Iblis admitted. "For some reason, he's allowing our starships to coordinate their actions. Although he has the ability to jam and block our ability for coordinated action, as he did before."
"In the past, he had a dark Jedi coordinating the fleet forces," Leia reminded. "And now he doesn't..."
"He simply can't do it," a tired voice sounded behind Han from Calrissian. "By the way, your cabin heating regulator is busted."
"To hell with it!" Han grimaced, realizing that replacing this part of the life support system would require disassembling the ship almost bolt by bolt. "What are you talking about?"
"That he's using mole rat control systems identical to those used on Nkllon," Lando explained. "It's a broadband transmitter, remote control, like that used on automated ships."
"Slave rig technology or something?" Han realized.
"Something like that," Calrissian agreed. "Thrawn can jam, allocating one communication channel for his fleet. But that won't be enough for remote control of plasma borers. They have frequency reservation for each change of course, speed, and..."
"There it is!" Leia perked up. "General Iblis, how many mole rats have already docked with our starships?"
"I'm not keeping an exact count," his husband's compatriot said sullenly. "But seventy percent of the ships are already lost to us — either in battle or disabled by mole rats. What?"
"There's an idea how to spoil the mood for everyone at once," Han declared. "Primarily — deprive Thrawn of the ability to use our ships."
"And how?" Bel Iblis was taken aback.
"Lando, do you know the mole rat control codes?" Han asked.
"Of course," his friend replied. "But I doubt they left them as is after capture. Moreover, each command uses its own frequency, its own code..."
"We only need one," Solo said stubbornly.
"And which one?" Calrissian frowned.
"Make the mole rats move," the Millennium Falcon's owner declared.
"Where?"
"Forward!" Leia understood her husband's idea.
"Uh..." Calrissian froze. "They're already docked to the ships. Where else can they fly?"
"We'll effectively disable the entire fleet," Bel Iblis declared.
"Yes, but destroy the starship control systems and not allow Thrawn to take the ships," Han explained his thought emphatically.
"Fey'lya will eat you alive," Leia noted.
"In that case, let him board a ship himself and come command," Solo snapped. "We're trying to turn a rout into at least a "draw" here. We clearly can't get the Imperial-design ships back, but we can definitely discourage Thrawn from taking our ships too. Look," Han pointed toward the Sluis Van shipyards. "Half an hour ago, a hundred of our restored starships were in orbit. Including the captured Destroyer Death's Head."
"Thrawn captured it one of the first," Leia reminded.
"Uh-huh," Han agreed. "Reputation and all that. But that's not the point. Look at what he's kept close at hand. Now there are either debris or remnants of Thrawn's grouping — warships. Almost all transports are gone — only Destroyers, light cruisers, corvettes, strike cruisers, and carrier Destroyers remain. He's withdrawn all his Imperial-design trophies from the system. Now it's our ships' turn — see, the Chimaera is moving forward, and the other starships are repositioning to move in a "half-moon"? That's how they want to trap the Fourth Fleet at the perimeter borders with the remaining forces. Even the interdictor cruisers have gone into hyperspace."
"Because they're unnecessary here," the intercom declared in Bel Iblis's firm voice. "We can't escape into hyperspace, as the Star Destroyers are holding us in semi-encirclement and blocking the jump with their hulls. We have the opportunity to leave through the crushed left flank — there are only a pair of Destroyers, finishing off two Liberties and boarding a Home One. But there's space for a jump."
"Which means Thrawn needs to hurry to finish all business," Han concluded. "General, I'm right — when you and Admiral Duplex left the system, you called for help?"
"This isn't an encrypted channel, Solo," Bel Iblis said reluctantly. "But yes. Three sector fleets are coming to our aid."
"Aha," Han smiled. "For my part, I can say we called Coruscant as we left the system. So, I think within an hour, such forces will gather here that even four dozen Destroyers and accompanying small fry won't be a big obstacle. Not to mention that Thrawn's ship crews are in a protracted battle, many ships damaged... I think if we disable the Star Cruisers, he'll leave at the first opportunity."
"Let's hope," Bel Iblis agreed. "Proceed. You have my approval. Use my flagship's communication station as a signal relay center. I hope this way we can move the mole rats farther from our ships, because they're too fast in straight-line movement — even A-wings barely keep up with them."
"That's no accident," Calrissian frowned. "On regular fuel, mole rats don't behave like that... Are you sure we should go on such an adventure? What if this is another Thrawn trap?"
"Proceed," Solo told his friend. "We have an emergency. No time to devise perfect plans."
"I don't like this," Calrissian grumbled, but entered the data into the Falcon's communication panel. "Done. Just need to..."
"Activating," Han selected the required command just as he managed to shake off a pair of persistent TIE Avengers from the freighter's tail. "General, signal is going!"
"Yes, going, observing... Solo, the mole rats rushed forward, into the Star Cruisers' hulls!" his compatriot rejoiced. "The free mole rats also veered off course and... Wait..."
"Han!" Lando jumped from his seat and pointed at the nearest Star Cruiser, on whose surface they saw plasma borers. "At their metal cutting speed, they should have already passed through...!"
And then the Star Cruiser began to deform.
A powerful flash of violet-crimson flame lashed from the hole made by the plasma borer, after which unnatural and unbearable flame poured from all the ship's viewports near the mole rats' "suction" points.
And then a powerful internal explosion tore the ship to pieces, forcing the Millennium Falcon to flee its own demise once again.
"Emperor's black bones!" Lando exclaimed. "It's ryllonium!"
"Fuel?!" Han was stunned, frantically working the freighter's yoke. "The Hutt's Grand Admiral switched the mole rats to ryllonium?!"
"This substance was inside the disguised asteroids!" Leia sobbed.
"Compared to it, baradium is flowers!" Calrissian clutched his head. "Han! It's a trap!"
"The Force!" Leia's voice trembled with tears. "The fleet..."
The Fourth Fleet of the New Republic Defense Forces was dying.
It was leaving life in pyrotechnic bursts of colorful explosions tearing the starships from inside.
One after another, they turned into flashes of grim colors, illuminating the space near Sluis Van.
"This is the end," Leia whispered. "We destroyed our own fleet..."
"With our own hands," Lando clutched his head, collapsing onto the deck plating. "I said it was all a trap, I said..."
"We've been outplayed, but we're still alive," Bel Iblis's dry but pain-filled voice came. "All New Republic fleet — retreat! Breakthrough through the left flank! Faster, before the enemy realizes we're still alive! Regroup with the other sector fleets and return to finish him."
But Han Solo wasn't sure about the last part.
***
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