Scheduled one.
***
Ten years, six months, and eighteen days after the Battle of Yavin…
Or the forty-fifth year, sixth month, and eighteenth day after the Great Resynchronization.
(One year, two months, and thirty-three days since the Arrival.)
Sending the Icedrop Queen to be at Palpatine's disposal was a crazy risk.
They could have exposed her, sidelined her, preemptively executed her, not believing the words of a clone…
For the plan to succeed, I had to stage an entire spectacle as the foundation for her insertion.
And what she got…
There's no point lying to myself and saying that's exactly what I was counting on.
No, not at all.
The maximum plan involved achieving just two points.
First — a feasible purge of the enemy's senior command structure to facilitate the subsequent military campaign against Palpatine and his clique.
That could only happen if Palpatine completely trusted the clone of Isard.
And that was the second point — to worm my way into his trust.
I didn't fully believe something like that could work.
But it did.
Isard not only provided exhaustive proof of non-critical plans and returned Lusankya to Palpatine, but also earned trust by undermining the Emperor's inner circle.
Starting with the high-ranking dignitaries and hangers-on who were genuinely plotting to overthrow the Emperor and seize his throne, Isard wove an intricate web of lies.
Thanks to her, the conspiracy of the Imperial Ruling Council collapsed, and Orinda has now suffered losses not only in territory, but also in most of its councilors, mercilessly eliminated by Inquisitors or members of the Dark Side Elite.
The latter, admittedly, also ceased to exist.
But those are just details now.
Sarcev Quest, Mas Amedda, hundreds of officials and dignitaries of all stripes, on whom either the real Isard or the Ubiqtorate under Sate Pestage's leadership had kompromat…
All of them are dead.
Palpatine's "old guard" has been removed.
Hundreds and thousands of not only high-ranking officers have been killed, but the command cluster of officers directly on ships has also been purged: veterans, skilled strategists and tacticians are now largely no longer an obstacle for us.
Only the most cunning or the most loyal remain, those whom Isard feared to touch.
Palpatine isn't so senile as to believe he's surrounded only by traitors.
But a fact is a fact.
The largest and most powerful Imperial Remnants in remote parts of the galaxy are now engaged in internecine warfare against each other, with varying degrees of Orinda involvement.
Active enemy liquidation is currently underway.
Lord Bonteri has been eliminated, and his place has been taken by a local fleet commander personally promoted by the Emperor.
His assigned task is to completely subjugate the systems of the Tion Cluster, excluding the Allied Tion controlled by the Dominion.
No, Palpatine wasn't afraid of us.
He shifted the problem of the Dominion's existence onto the shoulders of Cronal and Tyber Zann.
Well, worse for them.
Brintooin…
Captain Hoffner did a good job, supplying valuables from Palpatine's treasury on Wayland under the name of a non-existent trader.
The "Imperial Hammers," as far as I know, are currently engaged in active combat against Admiral Dobramu's forces.
A young and overconfident Nazi, a humanocentrist, and a simple adherent of radical ideas, he felt he was the Emperor's hand, acting strictly within the framework of my planned operation.
Colonel Johans refused to serve me willingly.
Well, perhaps his replacement will prove more amenable to new service.
Assuming, of course, the "Imperial Hammers" survive Dobramu's attack and his "Javelin" squadron.
If not…
I will have only one regret — along with the population of Brintooin, the armor and vehicle factories, as well as millions of well-trained soldiers, will be lost.
But in the realities of the Galactic Civil War, I would prefer them destroyed rather than fighting against me.
The same logic applies to Carida.
Five hundred legions of stormtroopers, fully trained under the old program that brought honor and terror to the entire galaxy — that's no laughing matter.
That's an army I currently have nothing to oppose it with.
My only hope rests on Admiral Dobramu's diligence and lack of intelligence.
Khomm…
Now that is a problem.
The Khommites, some of the most famous cloners in the galaxy, have been completely wiped out by Dobramu's efforts.
Their technology has been seized by Palpatine.
And that means enormous resources, allowing him to create a clone army of any size.
Yes, he'll need time to figure out the technology — Dobramu is a diligent idiot and killed every last Khommite.
But for Palpatine, that's not a major problem.
He commands the Empire's greatest engineering and scientific minds, who are already in the process of unraveling the Khommites' secrets.
Soon, Palpatine will be able to multiply his forces exponentially.
No wonder he throws his armed forces at the New Republic and the Galactic Alliance without any fear of losing them.
Under his command are several thousand Star Destroyers alone, plus heavy and battle cruisers, light forces, carriers, and so on…
But the relatively good news doesn't end there.
The "Galaxy Gun" has been postponed.
And that is good news.
The Galaxy Gun.
Another ambitious, and unlike the "Death Star," extremely dangerous and utterly ultimate type of weapon.
I feared this more than the appearance of the "Death Star" or its local analogues.
Isard did an excellent job.
She gathered information on every piece of superweaponry currently in the Emperor's possession.
But the "Galaxy Gun" isn't finished yet.
Just over seven kilometers long, it was still in the final assembly stage when the Emperor ordered a reallocation of available resources to complete other projects.
Still, if it is completed, we will be in serious trouble.
They say the bigger a man's toys and favorite things, the more he compensates for his physical shortcomings.
But whether that's true or not, I cared little.
The scientist responsible for its creation, who also worked on the "Death Star," was Umakk Leth.
Although the weapon's objective remained the same — planetary destruction — the method of achieving it differed greatly from that used on the destroyed battle planetoids.
The gun's "main caliber" consisted of ultra-powerful next-generation missile-projectiles, which, upon penetrating a planet's core, triggered a chain reaction that destroyed it.
The gun's barrel was essentially a massive acceleration device that launched the missile into hyperspace.
Thus, this cyclopean weapon's projectiles could traverse hundreds of thousands of light-years in mere hours and exit hyperspace in the target vicinity.
The missile-projectile then covered the remaining distance on its own engines, guided by a highly advanced targeting system and a pre-programmed flight plan.
Hitting the missile was extremely difficult, as it was a relatively small (no larger than a light transport), exceptionally fast target with low sensor visibility.
The immense range greatly increased the "Galaxy Gun's" stealth and, consequently, its protection.
Tracing the vector from which the missile arrived was very hard, but even if successful, finding the gun was virtually impossible.
Moreover, one must also consider that the gun, equipped with its own hyperdrive and sublight engines, could quickly reposition to avoid a counterstrike.
The "Galaxy Gun's" maneuverability is its cornerstone, critically important for its survivability.
Unlike the "Death Star," which could only destroy planets or burn away their atmospheres, the "Galaxy Gun" could use its missiles for precision strikes on targets on any planetary body's surface.
For example, destroying a specific city or base.
The designer himself considered the weapon's significant drawback to be the difficulty of targeting.
The Galaxy Gun's super-powerful onboard computer and its operators needed to perform vast calculations of star system positions and planetary movements to determine the optimal launch location and the most convenient approach vector for the missile.
If a small ground target (a city or base) was to be hit, the planet's rotation speed also had to be factored in.
I knew most of this to varying degrees, which is why I hoped Isard could redirect Palpatine's attention from the "Galaxy Gun" to something else.
Because low-observability missile-projectiles that travel through hyperspace and are virtually impossible to intercept with standard countermeasure systems are exactly what can breach the "Perimeter."
If not on the first shot, then on the fortieth.
Punch one hole — and you can launch a million projectiles: by the time they come for you (if they do), you could burn half the Dominion to the Hutts.
Not figuratively, of course.
In the events I know of, Palpatine used the "Galaxy Gun" for its intended purpose without the slightest hesitation, striking planets and moons, and structures on them, almost on an industrial scale.
The number of civilian casualties ran into the seven zeros, so on one hand, one can understand why no one showed restraint in retaliation.
And the scale of losses among Palpatine's supporters on Byss alone, destroyed by the New Republic, numbered in the tens of billions of sentients, even if they were fanatically loyal to Palpatine.
That concludes the good news regarding superweaponry under enemy control.
The stagnation in completing the "Galaxy Gun" was more than compensated for in other areas.
World Devastator.
The project, known under several names such as "World Devastators," "World Destroyers," "World Sweepers," "Planet Destroyers," "City Eaters," is complete.
Successfully completed.
In my past life, fans often debated whether the armada of these not-so-elegant-looking starships was more deadly than the classic "Death Stars."
But that's irrelevant now.
The documents Isard managed to obtain and deliver made me forget old theories and dive headfirst into studying the upcoming problem.
And a problem it is.
If Star Destroyers and other large ship types were powered by artificial stars in solar ionization reactors, the "World Devastators" used… black holes as their energy source.
Miniature ones, but still.
It makes your hair stand on end.
This practically unstudied method of energy generation guaranteed that a "Devastator" could, without the slightest issue, cross parsecs of space to its designated target, then descend into the lower layers of a planet's atmosphere.
After which, its powerful tractor beam projectors would literally tear the planet below it apart.
This was somewhat reminiscent of the legendary "Star Forge," which also gathered materials from a nearby astronomical object.
However, this "miracle of advanced engineering" was built by no ancient Rakata.
According to the documents, the destruction of celestial bodies, the absorption and processing of planetary crust resources through built-in molecular furnaces, is used as fuel for the vast foundries housed within each "World Devastator."
These are literally indestructible factories that can devour planets, asteroids, moons, comets, and so on, processing the ore internally and launching starships, fighters, droids, weapons — anything the internal foundry is configured to produce — straight onto the battlefield.
With sufficient resources, the internal factories could create anything from a fighter or speeder to a medium cruiser.
Unfortunately, a significant portion of the technical details was unavailable even to Isard, but even what we have was enough to assess the functionality of each "World Devastator."
In particular, the power plant technology was absent, even as a blurry holograph.
Only general words, no technical documentation.
It's possible that the data about black holes as a power source was deliberate disinformation.
Or perhaps it was that even the deranged Palpatine understood how valuable such information was and protected it zealously, even from his closest supporters.
Who, incidentally, thanks to Isard's own efforts, had largely been branded untrustworthy.
Yeah, a double-edged sword.
As its central computer, this superweapon used an advanced artificial intelligence — a droid — but one rigidly bound by unknown submission protocols.
Organics were on board to oversee production and manage navigational or weapons systems.
The droid brain was responsible for creating new weapons of war and was programmed with a vast database of ship types and parameters, capable of producing the most diverse vessels for any combat situation.
Furthermore, the factories could also focus on upgrading the "World Devastator" itself: some of the raw material produced in the molecular furnace was set aside for improving the main hull.
Given enough time and resources, the "World Devastators" could even create more "World Devastators."
Machines producing even more deadly machines…
Power from a black hole provided immense strength to defensive structures, particularly shields.
The output of the projectors was such that, according to preliminary estimates, even concentrated turbolaser fire couldn't penetrate them, and in most cases, any contact with another enemy ship resulted in that ship being absorbed by the enemy superweapon.
At times like this, you begin to understand that a Super Star Destroyer or an ordinary battle cruiser poses little real threat to Palpatine when he has a "World Devastator" at his disposal.
However, even the incomplete information indicates that for flight within a gravity zone, a "World Devastator" requires at least three of its four "legs" on which the most powerful repulsors are mounted — to be operational.
Destroy or damage at least two, and you can confidently send the monster crashing into unfriendly soil.
Something else is interesting.
In an Imperial military manual like the "Commander's Handbook," the "general silhouette of the 'World Devastator'" was present, described as naturally the most peaceful creation for the most peaceful purposes.
Only general data on the prototype's armament was provided: tractor beam projectors, laser and turbolaser cannons, proton torpedoes, missile launchers…
No specifics — the Empire deliberately covered the superweapon's tracks from the very start.
And the data was published in the "Commander's Handbook" only because the "Devastators" development began at a time when the Emperor was successfully fighting the Imperial Senate, and publishing information about promising new weapon developments was a mandatory Senate requirement.
From which, based on publication dates, one can conclude that "World Devastator" development occurred alongside the construction of the first "Death Star."
I suspect that the Maw Installation was involved in the early experiments, as the source of virtually all the Empire's superweaponry.
Honestly, where else could such development be conducted away from prying eyes, if not in a tiny (compared to the surrounding space) corner of the galaxy, hidden from other sentients by impassable black holes?
Information from New Republic intelligence archives even stated that four years after the Battle of Yavin, Crix Madine and a significant portion of intelligence officers believed the Imperials had simply "embezzled" the budget for the "Devastator" project and never moved beyond the planning stage.
So many wondrous discoveries await us all in the near future.
The "World Devastators" are fully ready.
While their exact number is unknown, that fact doesn't exactly warm my heart.
I should pass the available data to our engineers and shipbuilder Zion as soon as possible to develop countermeasures.
Forewarned is forearmed.
Though… they'll have a lot of work.
Besides the "World Devastators," Palpatine is fully completing the construction of both "Eclipse"-class Star Dreadnoughts.
"Eclipse"-class Star Dreadnought.
Seventeen and a half kilometers from bow to stern, a crew of nearly seven hundred and ten thousand, an air wing…
This is where the two "Eclipses" differ.
On the "first," the ship's air group consisted of thirty-seven squadrons of various TIE-type craft, seventy-two squadrons of light Incom I-7 Howlrunner interceptors, the same number of Kuat A-9 "Vigilance" starfighters, and three squadrons each of Xg-1 "Alpha" heavy fighters and MX-1 missile boats.
Plus four hundred light transports and landing barges of all modifications.
For the "second," the following composition of the ship's air group is indicated: seven hundred TIE fighters and fighter-bombers of an unnamed type, plus several hundred transport vessels.
The data is approximate, because the ship is still under construction and there are serious problems with equipping its air group.
Indeed, even with the "first," it's clear that Palpatine is equipping his forces with whatever he can buy.
Apparently, Incom Corporation has finally "caved" to the resurgent power, raising the question: if Fresia, the corporation's headquarters and factory location, is now under enemy control, why isn't the New Republic experiencing supply problems with "X-wing"-class small craft?
I suspect the cunning Borsk Fey'lya managed, by hook or by crook, to acquire some of the production lines and relocate them to the New Republic's rear.
Well… I'll need to look into that more closely.
The armament of both ships is standardized — at least according to the shipbuilders' plan.
One axial superlaser possessing two-thirds the power of the "Death Star." Effective firing range is one hundred fifty units in space, twice the range of a standard turbolaser.
The only thing we can oppose at similar ranges are our "Dragons" with ion cannons and planetary turbolasers.
What's unfortunate is that data on the superlaser's exact power is classified, and in this context, I can only rely on my memory, which helpfully suggests: this weapon is powerful enough to penetrate not only Super Star Destroyers and planetary shields, but also to scorch a planet's surface along with its atmosphere.
Depending on the diameter, of course.
The smaller the object attacked by the superlaser, the greater the guarantee of its destruction.
Our "Dragons" neither those equipped with planetary-grade ion cannons nor the fresh modification with planetary turbolasers — possess, unfortunately (or fortunately), similar qualities.
This is precisely why they no longer participate in front-line battles — we need to keep a trump card for when Palpatine deploys his armada against us.
According to the general rule of Imperial bureaucracy, if a project is destroyed or discredited during its operation, there is no attempt to replicate it.
That's why the "Dragons" have no place on the front lines now.
Not only have we lost a large number of them, and acquiring new "Venators" isn't as easy as it seems, but the enemy shouldn't know we still have any.
In whatever quantities.
The best demonstration of an experiment's "uselessness" is the cessation of its use.
This is precisely what became lodged in our enemies' minds when they stopped encountering "Dragons" on the battlefield.
They decided they were all either destroyed or the Dominion stopped spending money on them.
Let them remain in their delusions.
Just over half a thousand heavy laser cannons, five hundred turbolaser cannons, seventy-five ion cannons, one hundred tractor beam projectors, ten gravity well generators and projectors, twenty-five light laser cannon batteries.
As with the original Executor, this is maddeningly little to defend a starship of this size against enemy fleet action.
But the shipbuilder's explanatory note indicates that the "Eclipses" should primarily destroy enemy ships using the axial superlaser from long range, rather than engaging in line combat.
Given that a significant portion of the ship's volume is the reactor compartment necessary to power the "interdictor" and super-weapon components of the "Eclipse," the logic is clear.
As is the reason why the shipbuilder was executed after it became clear that the entire idea of remote fleet destruction was nothing more than idiocy and an attempt to cover up embezzlement.
According to the project, the "Eclipses" were supposed to be armed with half the artillery of the Executor, but we have what we have.
However, there is a grain of truth — with an axial superlaser capable of destroying anything comparable to or larger than a corvette, the enemy doesn't need to worry about a dangerous foe approaching the "Eclipse" within a range of seventy-five units.
They'll simply be incinerated by the superlaser on approach, and any enemy small craft will be swarmed by the super-dreadnought's vast air wing.
The main caliber's rate of fire is high, so in a "fair" fight, dealing with it will be oh-so-difficult.
Palpatine understood this from the moment the ships were laid down.
The project for the new super-ship was first conceived shortly after the Battle of Hoth, and a few months later, the hull of the future "Eclipse" was already laid down at the yards belonging to Kuat.
The ship was built with the same level of secrecy as the second "Death Star," allowing the construction to be kept secret.
The fact of the second station's construction could also have been hidden, had the Emperor not decided to carefully "leak" information to Alliance agents, hoping to lure the Rebel fleet into a trap in orbit around Endor.
Incidentally, Mon Mothma and her clique had the opportunity to destroy the first super-dreadnought at the stage when it was just a piece of scrap metal.
After the Endor catastrophe and the beginning of the Empire's fragmentation into smaller state entities, the ship's construction proceeded intermittently, sometimes stopping altogether.
Serious construction only resumed about a year and a half ago.
Around the time a group of Kuat engineers fled to Byss on the unfinished "Eclipse," escaping the likely occupation of Kuat by New Republic forces following the attack on the "Zann Consortium" shipyards.
Or, more reasonably, Palpatine's agents decided to play it safe and moved the ship to a protected location to avoid trouble.
One way or another, the Empire spent six years on the "Eclipse's" construction, from keel-laying to its commissioning this year.
Given that the construction of the Executor (practically any model in the series) took just over eighteen months (despite the ship being significantly larger, requiring more weaponry and equipment, and therefore placing a greater strain on logistics), the Eclipse can rightfully be considered a "long-term project."
From the general notes and data, first diligently analyzed by Ysanne herself and then by Grodin, I moved on to specifics.
The axial turbolaser of both Eclipses is an integral part of the keel — the main structural strength member of the hull.
This is… a very strange decision.
It's clearly an attempt to save on construction framework and avoid introducing a second set of rigid structures parallel to the keel that would secure and stabilize the superlaser equipment.
But at the same time, they deprived the Eclipses of a "safety net": if the ship's keel is severed, it will break in two.
Along with the superlaser.
Such catastrophes are fatal for seafaring vessels, but a different principle applies in starship construction.
Redundant rigidity.
On the Executors, for example — also designed at Kuat — there's no hint of a single point determining the ship's structural integrity.
It's a design idiocy — there's no other word for it.
For the simple reason that a multi-kilometer ship, even in a vacuum, is subject to stress from the operation of its engines, both main and maneuvering.
The forces acting on the vessel in hyperspace, combined with radiation, also do nothing to enhance the metal's durability.
I'm starting to think that the decision to execute the shipwright wasn't so much Palpatine's madness as it was the realization that years and billions had been wasted.
The ship's secondary armament consisted of traditional laser, ion, and turbolaser cannons, the number and power of which allow the Eclipse to face an entire fleet alone.
A small one, that is.
Still, five hundred turbolasers are equivalent to five or six Star Destroyers in the Empire's best modernizations.
Combined with strong shields, the Eclipse, even without its axial superlaser, could hold out for a very, very long time in battle against a numerically superior enemy.
The guaranteed destruction of any enemy squadron was greatly aided by ten gravity well projectors.
Their number and area of effect made it possible to prevent an entire fleet from escaping. From the star system — the design data on these projectors' capabilities indicates that together they are equivalent to the stations we are rebuilding at Karthakk.
Again, we're walking through a section where known garden tools are laid out.
The Empire creates and continues to create a massive flagship, equips it with a mountain of weaponry, but at the same time loses its grip on reality, assuming such a vessel can fight an enemy fleet and trying to make it universal.
The destruction of the Executor taught them nothing.
No matter how large and well-armed a ship is, expanding its air wing is not the best way to replace proper escort.
Let's note these thoughts.
The Eclipse's magnificent sensors possessed an unprecedentedly vast scanning and target acquisition range.
This fact, combined with the aforementioned superlaser, gave the super-dreadnought outstanding combat capabilities.
No matter the distance at which an enemy appeared, the Eclipse always retained the "right of first strike."
Interestingly, among the acquired documents there is even an explanatory note regarding the enormous size of the Eclipses' air wings.
Supposedly, the designers took into account the relative smallness of the preceding Super Star Destroyer Executor's air group and concerned themselves with creating large, spacious hangars.
And they installed them.
At the expense of a greater number of guns.
And the possibility of using onboard docking collars so that such a ship could easily carry ten or twenty corvettes — which would provide better protection against small craft than an oversized air group that would be problematic to launch in the first place — never occurred to them.
I don't know who was in charge of designing the Eclipse, but these documents were killing whatever charm the starship had from my past life.
What can I even say!
With its dimensions, the Eclipse could easily have "carried" a couple of Star Destroyers or a flotilla of support cruisers!
The ship is huge, massive; its hull was designed not with military calculation, but solely to exert psychological pressure on enemy soldiers through its sheer bulk.
They equipped the ship with a large number of small craft?
Excellent.
They got an air group practically equal to two Venators by the numbers.
With the only difference being that the Venator-class Star Destroyers during the Clone Wars revealed a significant problem.
Despite their size and the capacity of their cargo decks and hangars, the crew couldn't launch the entire air group. The maximum known number of small craft launched was no more than half of over four hundred.
Because by the time the second half of the air group began launching, the first was already returning for ammunition and fuel rotation.
Based on this peculiarity, Venators never carried a full air group, limiting themselves to ten, or rarely fifteen, squadrons of various machine types.
The designers of the Eclipse acted as if they were doing everything for the first time, or deliberately ignored their predecessors' developments.
Because the main hangar bay door on the ship… is one.
Yes, it's used exclusively for launching landing and transport ships.
But that means all small starships will travel the same path.
For combat aviation, "several spacious" side hangars were provided.
Sounds nice on paper.
But in reality, there are only two side hangars.
For seven hundred small craft.
And both operate on an identical schedule and mode, with no connection between them that would allow their repurposing.
I'm sure it will be a "thrilling spectacle" when some pilots need to take off while others need to land.
Let's note that thought.
"Thus, the Eclipse's air group was brought up to several hundred fighters, capable of protecting the mothership from any fighter or bomber attack. An armada of small ships, combined with powerful armor and shields, makes the Eclipse invulnerable. However, even thousands of bombers cannot inflict significant damage on this behemoth"…
That's an actual excerpt from the shipbuilding team's explanatory note to the customer.
I look at all this and realize I'd rather put up with Zion's "quirks" and arrogance than get employees like these.
And surely Kuat must have some quality control services, appraisers, calculators, designers, specialists responsible for the technical side…
I mean, they can't just take it, sketch out plans however they like, and then build it!
They couldn't have, really?!
Or could they?
I recall Zion wrinkling his nose in displeasure when he learned that the Dominion, besides factory testing, also had military acceptance, not to mention complete project oversight at every construction stage.
Much was said, but now I understand that what I perceived as Zion's "offense" was actually a rejection of what he considered an "unnecessary" process.
Unnecessary because it wasn't applied at his previous workplaces.
Sweet pastries!
How could I have missed this?!
The fact is, ships from Kuat — specifically from Kuat — didn't undergo multiple testing cycles!
The acceptance commission was invited during the factory testing phase, where experienced crews of Kuat workers demonstrated the ship in the best light, after which it was accepted into the treasury.
Kuat, having earned its name over millennia, shamelessly used its reputation to speed up procedures for fulfilling the customer's wishes.
After all, military acceptance often reveals various shortcomings, design flaws, or outright errors that the builder must fix at their own expense.
As a result, the very same Imperial-class, with nearly two hundred thousand constructive defects, became a symbol of the Empire's might.
I suppose only thanks to the valor and training of the crews of those very Star Destroyers.
Following a tradition started by the Venator, Victory, and Imperial-class Star Destroyers, the ship carried troops in numbers more than sufficient for conquering a major planet or an entire star system.
One hundred and fifty thousand soldiers — mostly stormtroopers, but not exclusively.
In addition to the stormtroopers, the ship hosted a separate COMPNOR assault battalion and a legion of the Imperial Guard.
Although these were, for the most part, no longer the same Guards who had protected their lord during the Empire's greatest power.
The new Guard Corps, according to the data obtained by Ysanne, was formed only a couple of years before the Emperor's Return.
The new Guards are significantly worse than the old ones, because the requirements for them are many times lower, and they are recruited not based on a complex of indicators, but on good physical condition and loyalty to the Emperor.
And the training…
According to Ysanne, it's lacking.
The surviving "old" Guards hold officer positions in the new Guard and strive to bring the subordinates up to par, but this work takes years, if not decades.
Only Luke Skywalker manages to extract moisture from sand on Tatooine one day, and a couple of weeks later, blow up a million of the Empire's elite soldiers and officers having sat at the controls of a starfighter for the first time.
In addition to all this, the ship carried five rapid-deployment ground bases, over three hundred AT-ATs and AT-STs, and no less than a thousand units of other armored vehicles.
Just as I said — the Empire's universal approach to ships plays a cruel joke.
What they build cannot be universal.
It simply cannot.
The Eclipse is a correction of the Executor's mistakes, but instead of an improved project, it's just a barge for transporting an army and an armada of equipment, armed with an axial superlaser.
Even the Executor's speed — forty megalights — hasn't been surpassed.
This ship is sluggish, structurally flawed, conceived as an attacker, but in reality, it's only capable of defense or ambush tactics — if we're talking about a war of maneuver.
Let's note these thoughts.
Certain countermeasures against such a ship are already forming in my mind.
And the most unfortunate thing is that the Eclipse is practically useless in battles against Yuuzhan Vong ships.
Their defenses can be overloaded only through rate of fire, not the power of a salvo.
And to destroy a Vong capital ship, a large number of guns will suffice.
A superlaser and such a defenseless ship are useless against a race whose world-ships are home to worms capable of biting pieces of metal off space stations.
However, one must understand that Palpatine, apparently, had little idea what he was about to face.
Because I, despite all my efforts, have still not come across any information in the Ubiqtorate archives about any secret laboratories where Vong technology might have been studied.
There wasn't even a search for the Vong themselves!
I'm getting the impression that by telling Mitth'raw'nuruodo about the danger of the Yuuzhan Vong, Palpatine was just feeding him a "workplace fairy tale."
And Thrawn's decision to join to fight them was just a coincidental "pleasant bonus."
Well…
Taking a sip of the slightly cooled caf from my mug, I opened another file on my workstation.
The last one concerning superweapons that were in enemy hands and ready for use.
"Sovereign."
Fifteen kilometers in length, armament practically the same as the Eclipse's, except that instead of ten gravity well generators, only five were installed.
And no laser batteries.
At all.
Air wing: four hundred and eighty TIE-series machines of various types, equaling forty squadrons, plus several hundred light transports, shuttles, and AT landing barges.
Crew: just over six hundred thousand people.
Onboard are thirty thousand one hundred soldiers; in the holds are seventy-five AT-AT and AT-ST walkers, five rapid-deployment bases, and provisions for accommodating large amounts of other military equipment like tanks, speeders, and so on.
The data is approximate, as it is based on the project's lead ship, the Sovereign itself, which, at the time the Snow Queen's mission concluded, was the only one of four ships of this type that was completed, crewed, and equipped.
The other three ships are in their final stages and will soon be introduced into the fleet.
I projected holograms of the starships at Darth Sidious's disposal into the space before me.
After a few seconds, I added holograms of the Imperial-class and several other ships at the same scale for comparison.
Mass and dimension data attached automatically.
Comparison.
The deeper into the woods, the more Palpatine relied on fear, as if Wilhuff Tarkin's death hadn't demonstrated the complete futility of the "Doctrine of Fear" he had developed.
The Sovereigns are part of that doctrine.
Ships of this type were a downsized version of the Eclipse, and were equipped on the same principle.
Although they were intended to fulfill the same tasks on the battlefield as their "big brother," the Sovereigns, strangely enough, evoked more sympathy than the previous versions of terror ships.
According to the report, they were laid down directly on Byss a year before the Endor catastrophe.
After the Emperor's death, the construction progress of the ships suffered the same problems as the construction of the Eclipses.
Lack of funding, lack of oversight, delays in the supply of necessary equipment…
"Long-term project" number two.
Curiously, unlike the Eclipses, the construction of these ships apparently wasn't a big secret.
Data on it appeared in one issue of the Commander's Handbook, but, as expected, only for general understanding.
What's far more interesting is something else.
From Ubiqtorate data, it is known that an incompletely armed Sovereign — the lead ship of the series — was used to a limited extent by Warlord Zsinj during his campaign against the New Republic.
After Zsinj's death, the ship returned to Byss orbit, where its construction was completed.
The result of the Sovereign's actions was that a defect was discovered in the superlaser systems, but the ship still managed to single-handedly destroy two squadrons of New Republic Star Cruisers.
Sustaining serious damage in the process.
The ship carries less armament, fewer fighters, and has lower hyperspace speed than the Eclipse.
The Sovereign, like the Eclipse, is equipped with an axial superlaser, the power of which was only a third of the Death Star's superlaser — precisely because of the identified defects.
According to engineers' calculations, the power of this weapon's shot was insufficient to completely destroy a planet, but it could turn any planetoid into an uninhabitable, charred desert.
Tactical use of this weapon was also possible, by setting it to low power.
In this "tactical" variant, the superlaser could easily destroy individual cities and large military bases on a planet's surface, even if the defenders had a planetary shield, which the superlaser simply ignored.
In space combat, the superlaser was the super-dreadnought's main battery, allowing the Sovereign to instantly destroy any large ship in the galaxy.
And its recharge rate differed from the Eclipse's — on the lower side.
As did the ship's speed — thirty megalights compared to the Eclipse and Executor's forty.
A "budget" version of the Eclipse — quality sacrificed for the quantity of ships produced.
The Sovereign is fully combat-ready and undergoing crew combat integration, but its three "sister ships" the Dictator, the Heresiarch, and the Despot — are only being staffed with personnel.
Due to a shortage of "standard" equipment, they, like the Eclipses, are being fitted with aviation from controlled companies like Kuat or Incom.
Their weaponry is also not yet fully installed — the Despot is closest to readiness, while on the latter two, even the superlasers have only just finished being mounted.
But the standard armament is already in place; internal and calibration work is underway.
There is no doubt that by freeing up resources from the Galaxy Gun, Palpatine bet on accelerating the completion of the superlaser ships — they will undoubtedly become the flagships of the main invasion forces.
Given that he has Super Star Destroyers and dreadnoughts of other types, like the Bellator, the Executor, the Vengeance, and so on, they are assigned the role of battlegroup flagships on secondary fronts.
An interesting fact.
Data on the Sovereign's capabilities is based solely on its single combat use under Warlord Zsinj.
And these "tests" were lobbied for by none other than Sate Pestage, who ran the Ubiqtorate under an assumed identity.
From this, one can conclude that Palpatine used Warlord Zsinj for his own purposes.
Indirectly, one can conclude that the Emperor was preparing to reveal himself to him, forcing the largest of the formed Imperial Remnants to serve him, which was a sensible move.
But Zsinj's failures in his struggle against the New Republic (not without intrigues from Orinda) led to Palpatine taking back "his toy."
This likely refers to the behind-the-scenes struggle among the Imperials of the Ruling Council, who knew Palpatine had survived, for his attention.
Palpatine was looking for strong and obedient subordinates.
Sarcev Quest and his allies made sure Zsinj lost, despite his advantages over the New Republic.
They eliminated a competitor to get closer to Palpatine — with the intention of overthrowing him, of course.
Those were precisely the conclusions Isard drew, and I am inclined to agree with her.
Yes, one might sympathize that we interfered with Quest's plans and didn't let him finish what he started.
But a choice must be made — eliminate Palpatine and leave his armada in the hands of competent and insane maniacs, or sabotage the coup in order to ingratiate ourselves.
I chose the second option for the simplest reason — in the battles and civil strife, a significant portion of the Empire's might, saved by Palpatine, would be lost.
And consequently, all the existing potential to provide the Dominion with a stronger fleet and superweapons would be lost.
I'm not yet sure which of the listed items we'll manage to capture, but I think I only need to send Commodore Stormaer to Byss and tell him the catchphrase: "Free stuff, grab-grab," and he'll drag both the planet and its fleet right into the Dominion's hands even without the Centerpoint Station.
A little joke…
Well, the analysis of the superweapons is done.
I need to accelerate even further in strengthening our defenses and removing obstacles, so that by the time of Palpatine's attack (and it's not far off), we're fully armed.
The Emperor will finish work on the Eclipses and Sovereigns, crew them, and unleash his pack.
Exactly that, no other way.
He needs chaos and panic among his enemies when the super-dreadnoughts and World Devastators get to work.
Without the superweapons, the effect won't be the same.
The Galaxy Gun will also be brought online — this is certain, as is the fact that I need it.
But that will be in the second phase of his operation — when the enemy's forces are forced onto the defensive and will likely develop countermeasures against the super-dreadnoughts.
Palpatine is pathologically incapable of heeding the voice of reason — he is still, despite everything, trying to break Skywalker.
And, by my internal estimates, he has lasted much longer than in the events I know of.
For which I offer him a separate thanks.
Thanks to his persistence, we haven't had to run "fire brigades" across the entire perimeter of the Dominion to repel Palpatine's forces' attacks.
And this despite the fact that the second phase of the counteroffensive is being delayed due to unforeseen circumstances — we have the opportunity not to throw surplus forces from the rear to the front.
But it must be understood that Palpatine will lose his temper when he encounters news of Sedriss's betrayal.
And then I don't envy Skywalker.
I need to speed up.
At the very least, to have my own superweapon by the start of Palpatine's offensive.
I opened another file.
"Eye of Palpatine."
Both of them.
One is drifting in space and fleeing from our scout droids; the second one…
The second one won't be simple.
Because the twin of the Empire's first super-dreadnought is at Cronal's disposal.
The struggle for the Corporate Sector appears much more difficult than it did a few days ago.
And most dangerous of all is the game against Palpatine that Isard started on her own initiative.
She turned Carnor Jax, Quest's apprentice, who was supposed to become the new Emperor according to the conspirators' plan in the Imperial Ruling Council.
The assassin of Baron D'Asta survived.
What's worse — he has infiltrated Palpatine's inner circle.
And what's absolutely terrible is that Lumiya and Jax are working to overthrow Palpatine together with Nom Anor, a Yuuzhan Vong scout.
Sometimes I begin to think there is no way to execute Marg Sabl to emerge victorious from all these intrigues and break the vicious circle of endless war that has fallen to my lot.
"And there is no peace for us, burn but live…"
But that's just a moment of reflection.
I called myself Grand Admiral Thrawn — use Marg Sabl correctly, not like with Isard and Jade.
So, Exar Kun, Sedriss, the Alliance, and the Silri Syndicate…
The intercom in my quarters sounded.
"Admiral, sir," came Captain Pellaeon's voice. "Captain Tschel and the Chimaera have arrived and are requesting an urgent meeting."
Captain Tschel disobeyed orders and left his position on the approach to Rothana?
That's unlike him.
The reason he did so must be extraordinary.
Looks like we've got more problems delivered.
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