Grand Admiral

Nine years, six months, and six days after the Battle of Yavin...

Or forty-four years, six months, and six days after the Great Resynchronization.

Although he did not feel the pressure of the dark side of the Force in the Imperial Palace, Luke tried to minimize his presence in the former residence of Palpatine.

Originally, this magnificent building was called the Presidential Palace, or the Palace of the Republic, and served as the residence of the Supreme Chancellor of the Old Republic. Unfortunately, very few records remain of how this magnificent building looked in the past. Now, after decades of Imperial domination in the galaxy, Luke felt that the structure had taken on a massive, alien aesthetic, conveying an excessive impression of power and danger.

From all sides, this grandiose (no jokes) building was surrounded by an innumerable quantity of statues, and the colonnades and domes evoked comparisons to a temple. A temple towering a good three kilometers above the surface of the Upper Levels of the galactic city.

During the capture of Coruscant, soldiers of the New Republic stormed this building, killing and capturing all imperial officials, making no concessions for gender, age, or status. One of the most... controversial operations of the New Republic, about which it was not customary to spread. Because at that time, for the armed forces of the Rebel Alliance, there were no innocent imperial officials in the matter of oppressing the citizens of the galaxy. They resolved this issue much later, when, having transformed into the New Republic, the former rebels realized that they were not able to manage the bureaucratic machine inherited from the Empire competently. And they began to lure former imperial officials to their service...

Imperial Palace (Coruscant).

The palace was made of silver-shimmering gray stone and mirror crystals, thanks to which the palace sparkled even in the dark. In the basement was the imperial information center—a repository of state secrets. Such it was under Palpatine, and it fulfilled the same function under the Provisional Government of the New Republic.

There was a Senate Hall in the palace, the design of which closely resembled the design of the Great Convocation Chamber—the room where the senators of the Old Republic and the Imperial Senate gathered before its dissolution shortly before the Battle of Yavin.

Luke had already been there as an observer, witnessing several speeches by his sister. A magnificent room. But inferior to the Great Convocation Chamber in the Senate Building. The hall contained six hundred six-seater repulsor platforms for senators. Like everything imperial, they had gray-steel hues, exuding militarism. Now were underway regarding the restoration of the Senate Building, abandoned for almost ten years and dilapidated in places. Over time, the Senate of the New Republic would move there, as more and more sectors, systems, and even individual planets sought to join the young state that had defeated the Galactic Empire. And each such state entity, joining the last bastion of democracy in the galaxy, should be given a voice in the Senate. And, as funny as it may sound—its own repulsor platform. Luke remembered that Leia grumbled that they intended to move the senators from the Imperial Palace for precisely this reason. And, by the way, this significantly complicated the work of the state machine—separate placement of state bodies complicates their work. But the Provisional Government could do nothing about it. Or did not want to.

The spaces within the palace are so vast that all state employees, both in the time of the Empire and now, were required to carry a comlink to prevent curious cases where assistants or even officials got lost in the labyrinth of corridors and rooms. Because of this, there were terrible stories, such as one of the servants in the Imperial Palace, found dead at her desk only after a year. Another, no less chilling tale, said that the Emperor and his entourage disposed of unwanted officials and servants, explaining their sudden disappearance by the fact that they got lost in the corridors.

However, Luke did not believe in these horror stories. Otherwise, what prevented the Emperor and Darth Vader from simply eliminating all their political opponents at once and covering it up with such a legend? After all, in addition to the thousands of beings working in the palace (if not hundreds of thousands), a significant number of them lived there temporarily or permanently.

All residential floors of the Imperial Palace were filled with libraries containing information chips with data about almost everything in the galaxy. Naturally, for this very reason, there were never any visitors in the libraries—all the data stored on the chips could be found in open access.

In the depths of the palace, there was an entire section of floors for various guests of the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic, and later—the Emperor. When the New Republic took possession of the palace, Princess Leia and Han began living on the guest floor. That was where Luke Skywalker was headed, having passed the first security cordons and ventured into the Great Corridor, also known as the Vestibule. They say that Palpatine himself had a hand in its creation, personally drawing up the plan. But unfortunately, no evidence of this remains.

The Vestibule—the only place where any being could enter on general grounds. But to go further and navigate the maze of corridors, stairs, turbolifts, and rooms, some of which reached the size of Victory-class Star Destroyers, one had to meet with Republican guards. However, Luke handled this task without any problems.

The imperial design of the building began to weigh on him literally from the moment he learned of the connection between Palpatine and Jorus C'baoth. He did not believe in coincidences. The Force told him that what was happening was by no means accidental.

The appearance of an extravagant Jedi who appointed himself a Master without training a single apprentice, and who was also an advisor to a man who suddenly declared himself Emperor, the luring of Corran Horn into the unknown... No, there are no coincidences in the galaxy. They just do not yet understand what is happening.

And he does not understand anything either.

That's what Admiral Ackbar told him, from whom Luke was returning. With a firm intention to meet with his sister and discuss her reckless initiative.

Pushing through the sparse crowd of beings scurrying through the corridors of the Imperial Palace at such an hour, the young Jedi glanced to the side, amazed at the colors of the ch'hala trees planted in the vestibule, where the dignitaries of the Empire, and before them the Old Republic, used to while away the time between countless meetings. Judging by the fact that all the benches in the vestibule were occupied by senators, their assistants, and high-ranking dignitaries conversing with each other, a recent session of the Provisional Government had just ended, and the beings were eager to share vital information with each other.

So his sister must be somewhere here.

It took him a few minutes to single out the image of his sister in the Force among the variety of life forms. Oh, he had missed her, moved to the balconies, while his sister was sitting in the Vestibule. Not good.

Luke sighed sadly when he realized that he had not taken his comlink with him, so he quickly dashed to the nearest turbolift, politely smiling at the beings inside, and then, returning to the Great Corridor, quickly walked towards where he had seen Leia.

He found her only on the third attempt. And only then, noticing the old faithful C-3PO next to her.

— Luke? — Leia's eyes widened in surprise when he suddenly appeared next to her.

— Oh, Master Luke, how glad I am to see you! — the golden protocol droid exclaimed, raising his arms in a greeting aria.

— And I, C-3PO, — the young Jedi smiled. Seeing who Leia was conversing with, he bowed respectfully. — General Cracken.

— Skywalker, — the suspended chief intelligence officer of the New Republic replied to the greeting. — Are my affairs so bad that they are now sending Jedi?

— No, what are you saying, — Luke was embarrassed. — I am here... for another reason. Admiral Ackbar said that you are planning a sortie...

— Oh, Master Luke, you simply cannot imagine what kind of adventure this is... — the droid translator began, but fell silent, meeting the gaze of the Alderaanian princess.

— Actually, this is secret information, — Leia said a little quieter, looking around furtively. — We involved the admiral in it because his participation was required. We need a suitable escort.

— I can go with you, — Luke offered. — I have nothing to do at the moment anyway...

— In fact, there is, — General Cracken said. — C'baoth. He needs to be found.

— I was thinking the same thing, — Luke agreed. — However, I found no leads in the Senate library about where he might be at the moment. Even with Winter's help—this is not a task that a couple of people can handle. Nothing is known about him since he and a group of other Jedi set out on the "Outbound Flight" expedition.

— The search for life beyond the galaxy, — Cracken nodded understandingly. — Yes, a topic not rich in details, unfortunately.

— Maybe Talon Karrde knows something about this? — Luke inquired. — If K'baoth survived, then maybe others who went with him are also somewhere. Six Jedi Masters, a dozen Knights... If any of them are still alive, we could begin negotiations with the Provisional Government about rebuilding the Jedi Order.

— Unfortunately, I am not sure we have enough resources to get Talon Karrde to reveal the details of the disappearance of this expedition, — Leia said sadly. — I had to find all possible reserves, borrow funds from Lando, my own and Han's savings, borrow from several acquaintances. Even Mon Mothma secretly cashed out several government accounts. Not to mention that General Cracken used secret items of Republican intelligence financing...

— Fortunately, I still have many friends in my own organization, — Cracken smiled. — However... if we do not achieve victory over this Imperial operative group... All our intelligence will be at risk. We simply will not be able to pay our agents for a considerable period.

— Aren't your agents soldiers of the New Republic? — Luke was surprised.

— In the lesser part, — Cracken grimaced. — Most of them are... various elements to whom money is more important than ideological considerations. Therefore, we do not spread information about all this situation—if the information obtained from Karrde contributes to the defeat of the Imperial operational group, then no one will ask questions. But if not... I am afraid the worst will happen—Fey'lya will be able to use this financial failure to strengthen his positions. I have already heard several senators stating that Borsk is the ideal candidate to be elected president. At the last meetings of the Provisional Government, we barely managed to dissuade him from the idea of immediately returning all disarmed ships to the fleet. We will do this gradually, but in any case—this will postpone our financial stability until the end of the year, no earlier.

— I like what is happening less and less, — Luke admitted, glancing at the droid gardener weeding around the ch'hala trees shimmering with red waves of light. — Imperials, C'baoth, the strengthening of Fey'lya... There is clearly something not right here. Han and Lando are far away, and you are planning to go to the other end of the galaxy to negotiate with Karrde...

— The "Talon" has already given preliminary agreement, — Leia said. — But the meeting has to be postponed for a week.

— Why? — Luke was surprised.

— Having learned what we plan to discuss with him, he requested three more days to "obtain more detailed information." And we have something to do. Interesting details have surfaced regarding the planet New Cov, — Cracken said. — The Bothans behind our backs were planning to bring this planet into the composition of the Republic. Supposedly, the governor turned to them with a request for protection from pirate raids stealing his biomolecular mass—a nutritional substrate that increases the caloric content of food. And when everything seemed ready for the signing of the agreement, information surfaced that the governor had collaborated with them and personally executed his guards. The Bothans presented everything as an Imperial provocation, but this morning a courier hired by an unknown delivered a blaster to the Republican intelligence location, from which the guards were killed. A preliminary analysis revealed that this weapon was indeed used to commit the crime. And it had the biological traces of the planet's governor on it.

— I will have to stay on Coruscant to prevent Fey'lya from pushing through the bill on the admission of New Cov into the New Republic, — Leia said. — If they are indeed connected with the Empire, then... We are essentially allowing Imperial spies access to our internal political information.

— Oh, how complicated everything is, — Luke shook his head. — Am I the only one who thinks that too many events are happening around Fey'lya?

— Not just you, Jedi Skywalker, — Cracken smiled. — My colleagues have dug into the past of this little planet. I was just telling Leia that the Bothans openly used their armed forces only once during the Rebellion. And precisely on New Cov.

— Sounds suspicious, — Luke tensed.

— More than, — Cracken agreed. — Whatever is happening inside the New Republic—the political dividends from this are exclusively benefiting the Bothan party with Borsk Fey'lya at the head. One way or another.

— We need to conduct an investigation, — Luke said confidently. — I am sure we will find something...

— Unfortunately, my hands are tied, — Cracken said. — And it's not even about the suspension from duty—intelligence turns a blind eye to this...

— Convenient, — Leia snorted.

— Occupational hazards, — Cracken smiled. — We ignore those facts that interfere with our work.

— Very reminiscent of the Empire, — the girl noted.

— Most of my operatives are former Imperials, — Cracken noted, diplomatically omitting himself. — But that's not the point. Fey'lya has great power. He is an active politician and Commander-in-Chief. Intelligence has no authority to conduct operational measures against him until we have any facts.

— Meanwhile, he had enough words to remove Ackbar, — Luke noted.

— Unfortunately, the words fell on the fertile soil of military defeats, — Leia said. — But Lando spoke correctly—if nothing critical happens in the area of finding evidence of the admiral's guilt, the suspicions will be lifted from him, and he will be reinstated. Even the Bothans cannot push an accusatory decision through the tribunal based solely on assumptions. Especially when Ackbar does not admit guilt in state treason.

— No, they can try. But any appeal will break the tribunal's decision. So, to destroy Ackbar, the Bothans will need something more substantial than mere guesses. Knowing Fey'lya, he is capable of obtaining evidence if it exists or inventing it, — Cracken noted. He looked at Leia, then at Luke. — It seems I have an idea.

— What is it? — Leia asked with interest.

— Are you free at the moment, Jedi Skywalker? — Cracken asked businesslike.

— Like a Jawa in the Dune Sea, — Luke said.

— If you go to New Cov and manage to obtain information about the reason for the Bothans' interest in this planet—we could use this to lift the charges from Ackbar, — the chief intelligence officer of the New Republic said.

— If, of course, there is something substantial there, — Luke said doubtfully.

— I am sure there is, — Leia said. — I cannot even imagine a reason why the Bothans decided on open confrontation with the Imperials on New Cov in the past and kept quiet about it.

— Yes, if their fur wasn't dusty, they would have inflated this episode as much as their role in the theft of the Death Star plans, — Cracken confirmed. — So, they have something to hide. If we find out what—we can either start an investigation against Fey'lya or use this secret to deter Ackbar from his attacks.

— Blackmail, — Luke grimaced. — That's not very Jedi-like...

— We are only asking you to find the necessary information, nothing more, — Cracken said quickly. — How we use it is a separate question. Perhaps everything there is so bad that it will reveal direct Bothan cooperation with the Empire. So I am just considering possible options, nothing more.

— It is doubtful that the Bothans, after helping to destroy the second Death Star, would cooperate with the Imperials, — Luke stated.

— We just need to remember the fact that the information they discovered led the fleet of the Rebel Alliance into a trap set by the Emperor, — Leia said darkly. — General Cracken is right, Luke. At the moment, you are the only one who can help us. I must prevent Borsk's bill, Lando is at the front, Han will receive leave in a few days and go to former Grand Admiral Octavian Grant to find out more about which of his former colleagues might have survived our purges, Mon Mothma cannot openly oppose the Bothans, Ackbar is under suspicion...

— And I am officially suspended, — Cracken spread his hands. — Moreover, the princess Organa-Solo and I must go to meet with the "Talon." I hope that with the time we have, Ackbar will be able to find a suitable ship for us located near the meeting place. And if Karrde does not deceive, he will give us a lot of new information during the meeting on Milagro...

— Milagro, — Luke grimaced. Memories of the planet that the Imperials had turned into a desolate piece of slag just to prevent the Rebel Alliance from gaining access to the resources of this world were still too fresh.

— Yes, — Leia said. — Not far from New Cov.

— Four and a half years ago, I received the rank of general there as a result of the battle, — Luke smiled tightly.

— And you met a friend, — Cracken reminded. — Kyle Katarn.

— Yes, — Luke nodded. — I was thinking about involving him in the C'baoth matter. As far as I remember, he is good at uncovering Imperial secrets...

— I am afraid at the moment he and his partner are unavailable, — Cracken said. — Before I was suspended, I sent him to find Galen Marek and General Rahm Kota. Right after Generals Solo and Calrissian returned to their duties...

— We need to contact him and involve... — Leia began, but General Cracken shook his head negatively.

— I am afraid that is impossible. At the moment, they are one of our most valuable assets. To ensure their mission is completed, I ordered them to maintain radio silence. They will contact us themselves only when there is some news. Or when their mission is completed.

— So this is done to prevent Fey'lya from interrupting their mission? — Leia asked. The intelligence officer nodded affirmatively.

— A precaution in case the Bothans manage to extend their grasping paws into the depths of Republican Intelligence, — he explained. — I would not be surprised if Councilor Fey'lya uses his current power to infiltrate all possible secrets of the New Republic and turn them to his advantage. Therefore, most of the agents, those who represent the greatest value for state security, I have taken out of service and closed all contacts with them exclusively to myself.

— Isn't that a bit too risky? — Luke doubted the correctness of the general's actions. — I am not sure that this is the right position... After all, if something happens to you, then...

— Unfortunately, a necessary measure, — Cracken smiled crookedly. — The secrets of the New Republic are worth such a risk.

Judging by Leia's tense silence, she fully agreed with him.

Luke sighed heavily.

— Alright, — he said. — My X-wing is always ready with a full tank, and R2-D2 is ready to take off at any moment... But are you sure I should not escort you to Milagro? And then I will go to New Cov.

— Ackbar promised to help, — Cracken reminded. — And there is still work to be done here...

— And if he cannot, — Leia said, — then I have the Millennium Falcon. Chewbacca, with Han's consent, has already delivered it to Coruscant and is preparing it for flight. He might even fix something from the list of things Han always promises but never gets around to...

Nodding in agreement, Luke Skywalker kept to himself the troubling doubt about the successful outcome of the mission.

***

Grand Moff Ardus Kaine looked at the one who entered.

Skinny, with sharp features, a "bird-like" appearance. A terrible character and an even more despicable personality. A man who stops at nothing to achieve his own power. Even the betrayal of a friend—Grand Admiral Rufaan Tigellinus—was not something extraordinary for him. A simple, insignificant villainy that cost the life of one of the dozen outstanding Imperial commanders.

But then again, it is good that he is exactly like that.

Just the one needed to carry out everything planned.

— Report, Moff Disra.

Moff Vilim Disra.

— Governor Staff has contacted Karrde, — the moff said. — Information about Lainuri has been transferred.

— Sounds good, — Kaine smirked. — Any more news?

— As payment, Karrde received a cargo of turbolasers from us, — Vilim said. — As you know, I do not approve of transferring Imperial technologies to this scum...

— Is it for you to judge my decisions, moff? — Kaine raised an eyebrow, staring intently at Disra standing before him at attention. — Or have you forgotten how, a year before the death of the first Death Star, you became the chief administrator of the Shelsha sector under the leadership of Governor Barshnis Choard? Or should I remind you how you manipulated this governor, who wanted to separate his sector from the Galactic Empire and join the Rebel Alliance, for which you gathered pirate gangs, provided them with resources and even put Imperial objects under attack? And all this in order to get the post of sector governor when the trap for Chaord and the pirates slams shut? Should I remind you how this whole adventure ended?

— No, you don't need to, Grand Moff, — Disra said, pursing his lips. — I...

— You achieved nothing, moff, — Kaine said coldly. — Absolutely nothing. Your only victory is the betrayal of a friend. Betraying and plotting against Imperial loyal to the New Order is all you do well enough, Disra. In fact, that's why you're here — to do what you can do. To be mean, lie, falsify. On my orders. And if I said that Karrde will receive a cargo of turbolasers from us, then he will receive them from our stock on Yaga Minor. Is that clear?

— Yes, sir, — Disra pursed his lips. — Sir, I just wanted to say that one of Thrawn's ships intends to arrive at our shipyard on Yaga Minor in a few hours. Isn't that too risky...?

— Yes, I know, — Kaine said. — Nemesis. Thrawn sent one of his lackeys to negotiate the supply of spare parts and repairs. No risk. Karrde's freighters and cargo ships have so many identifiers that no one can identify them. And it is not worth detaining anyone from Karrde's gang at our shipyards beyond the usual. It will be enough for this scoundrel to gather information about us, which we have no moral right to allow.

— That's not all, — Disra noted. — I learned that Thrawn's adjutant has arranged a meeting with shipbuilder Ryan Zion...

— And that should somehow concern me? — Kaine was surprised. — Zion is responsible for the shipyards of Yaga Minor. If they need major repairs, and most likely that's the case, and the Dark Troop will be repaired with us, then this meeting is more than logical.

— May I remind you that Thrawn is recruiting specialists, — Disra noted. — And as you remember, Zion is not very loyal to us...

— Mister shipbuilder is "not very loyal" to the New Order, but not to the Pentastar Alignment, — Kaine remarked, stroking his chin. — Ubictorate reported that Thrawn's people were already interested in Zion...

— Most likely, they are going to poach him, — Moff Disra said fervently. — And then we will lose...

— ... A talented, but very troublesome shipbuilder who is now causing much more problems than benefits, — Kaine noted. — He is famous for his ability to modernize warships, in fact, that is why I took him under my patronage. After the modernization of Immobilizer 418-class interdictor cruisers into a new type of heavy cruiser, I don't see much value in him at all... Instead of using the prototype of the Immobilizers — the Vindicator-class heavy cruiser, he decided that it would be better to spoil the interdictor cruisers... Transforming such rare and valuable starships into something highly specialized... This is a complete profanation.

— As far as I remember, Mr. Zion motivated this by the fact that in the cones from under the generators of gravitational projectors it is possible to place high-power energy generators and... — Disra began to say, but Kaine interrupted him with a gesture.

Vindicator-class heavy cruiser.

— Stop talking nonsense, moff, — Kaine said. — This man is useless to the Pentastar Alignment after he refused to modernize Star Destroyers the way I want him to. He hates the versatile ships that Imperial Star Destroyers essentially are, and therefore, he is useless. Actually... — Kaine pondered.

Thrawn has a rather impressive fleet of heavy cruisers that are not in the best condition. And this mass of starships is quite dangerous in the long run. The operation to provoke Thrawn aims to make him switch his attention exclusively to the rebels. But at the same time, he cannot be given a chance to possess a force capable of rivaling the fleets of other Imperial Warlords... Thrawn has a shipyard... And personnel... Therefore, sooner or later, he will still restore his ships from the Katana Fleet. It's better, of course, later than sooner. At the shipyards of the Pentastar Alignment, several dozen Star Destroyers are currently being completed...

Thrawn needs not only to be directed at the enemy, but also to slow down the strengthening of his fleet... And who can cope with this better than a renowned shipbuilder who has excessive self-esteem and many quirks? Especially if everything is arranged so that the shipbuilder is angry with his past employers...

— Fire him, — Kaine said. Disra's eyes almost popped out of their sockets. — Immediately after he meets with Thrawn's adjutant, or rather, with an adjutant woman, inform him that he has exhausted the limit of my trust and is no longer reliable. Arrange everything so that his excessive ego is wounded so much that he runs hopping after Thrawn's lackey... Lackeyess... — Kaine frowned. — Everything is not like with other people with this exotic. A woman on board a starship... Disgusting, — Kaine looked at the moff. — I'm sure you can spoil his mood, moff. Do it so that this person never even looks in our direction again. Let him annoy Thrawn.

— What about our own shipbuilding program? — Disra doubted.

— We have contacts with Kuat Drive Yards and a huge number of workers at the shipyards, — Kaine said indifferently. — It's time to stop experimenting — we have enough heavy cruisers. It's time to increase the overwhelming number of Star Destroyers.

Moff Disra was silent. Ardus saw that he was clearly dissatisfied with something, but who cares what this person wants? He is just an obedient toy in the hands of the Grand Moff himself. As soon as they deal with Thrawn, Disra will also have to be eliminated. Keeping a snake on your chest for too long is life-threatening.

— You are free, moff, — Grand Moff Kaine said. — Take care of the execution of my orders.

— As you command... Grand Moff, — Ardus, looking at his departing subordinate, paid attention to the tone in which the last words were spoken. Disra is digging in. Perhaps he will have to be eliminated sooner than was planned a few minutes ago.

***

— The operation will not be easy, — I noted, after listening to the end of the report of the commander of the Chimaera.

— Yes, sir, — he confirmed. — Four Firestar-class stations, two Golan IIs, and also massive air cover from ground-based fighters...

— Another thing is curious, — I said. — Kuat Drive Yards delivered defensive stations to the orbit of Kai Fel not so long ago.

Actually, we were lucky that the agents stayed on the planet and provided additional information about the strengthening of the defense of the main supplier of hyperdrives, Kuat Drive Yards. Otherwise, it would have been very difficult — since I was planning to use only a few Star Destroyers out of the eight available in combat readiness for this operation. Nemesis and Imperious are on assignment. Crusader has just come out of repair. Steel Aurora is still making its way to Tangrene... If I had rushed to Kai Fel, as I planned, as part of the Chimaera, a couple of Star Destroyers and a couple of Interdictors, not to mention Acclamator II, we would definitely have received a "punch in the teeth."

— Perhaps this is a response to our actions, — Pellaeon suggested. — Kuat is not full of fools, they understand what is going on. Increased raid attacks on supply caravans, the machinations of pirates...

— Don't overestimate the significance of our achievements, Captain, — I advised. — On a galactic scale, these are no more than troubles, but not problems in any way.

And yet, we have trouble. If the Kuatians took care to secure their production facilities in this way, then why not strengthen their presence? Say, keep an ambush patrol squadron of several Star Destroyers somewhere?

— Have the repair works on the fleet's ships been completed? — I inquired.

— Yes, sir, — Pellaeon reported briskly. — At your disposal are Chimaera, Stormhawk, Death's Head, Bellicose, Inexorable, Relentless, Judicator. Of the Victories, Crusader is in full combat readiness, but we can also call Immovable from Wayland. Two Interdictors, Black Asp and another Immobilizer 418 from Moff Ferrus's subordination. I'm not talking about the fact that, in general, we can put Liberty and Offensive into service — they only need to form temporary crews and...

— We will not send an Imperial-II with an untrained crew into battle, — I said in a tone that did not tolerate objections. — Neither the first destroyer nor the second. Only after the formation of permanent crews and the completion of training. This rule is inviolable, captain, remember it yourself and pass it on to others. We will not use Moff Ferrus's ships either.

— Yes, sir, — Pellaeon snapped.

So, seven Imperials, one Victory, two interdictor cruisers and one Interdictor captured in battle. An impressive force. Which could be increased even more, but... I am not going to withdraw the interdictor cruiser from the Tangrene fleet — there are already too few forces left here. The arrived batch of clones is only one fifth of the crew for each of the destroyers. They are able to withstand a short battle, but nothing more. These ships need maneuvers, exercises — and the clones too. Given the fact that our orbital station will soon come into operation, caravans will arrive from Krennel tomorrow with small aircraft, and the number of heavy cruisers at the shipyards with temporary crews, which will soon become permanent, is three dozen — if necessary, it will be possible to fight back. And at the same time, without revealing the position of all the other ships of the Dark Troopers. Plus, I returned all of his medium and patrol cruisers to Ferrus. During two consecutive operations, he will have the opportunity to repel a hypothetical attack on Tangrene during my absence.

Recall the Imperious from Lainuri? As an option. The base on the surface can withstand shelling from orbit — there is a deflector and a sufficient amount of weapons. But there is simply nothing to protect the Sentinel interdictor cruiser and the Neutron Star drifting in orbit. No, Imperious stays.

Am I afraid of a blow to my back? Yes, I am afraid. I am very afraid. So much so that sometimes I want to give up everything and start planning from the very beginning. But for the eighth time, I will not be able to bear this. Rebuilding the entire plan... that's too much, even for the mind of a Chiss. Actions planned for months ahead... No, it won't work. Today, during our stay at Tangrene waiting for the completion of the repair of the fleet's ships, I made the latest adjustments to my general plan. That's it, it will no longer change — in the sequence of actions, at least. Undoubtedly, there will be additional problems. But they can always be included in the plan, adjusting one of its stages.

— We're running out of time, Captain, — Pellaeon looked at me strangely. Damn... Okay, calm down. He just heard the phrase "running out of time," which cut his ear. — This means that we are limited in time, Captain. Don't make that face — the galaxy is rich in vocabulary.

— Yes, Grand Admiral.

— Therefore, recalling Nemesis is too long, it will take her from three to five days to return from Yaga Minor, — I continued to reason. — Also, you cannot leave Wayland without protection. Steel Aurora will also be inoperable for the foreseeable future after its arrival.

— Engineer Reyes said that the data sent by Captain Kalian indicates that this ship will spend at least a month in the dock, — Pellaeon inserted his decicreds.

— Understood, — I said. So, another Victory is out of reach. It's even funny somehow. I have two combat-ready Star Destroyers, but there are no experienced crews for them that are guaranteed not to wreck the ships in battle. And the battle will clearly not be easy. — After the mission to Kai Fel, I want to meet with Captain Kalian personally.

— Yes, sir, — Pellaeon made a note on his datapad.

Let's discuss the promotion of this sentient. He and his crew have proven themselves well enough to deserve the right to continue fighting and not languish in the docks. And besides, before sending on missions in the Hast system, we should have a replenishment of twenty thousand fleet clones. They will be enough to complete at least one Star Destroyer. Of course, there will be a number of transfers, but that's not the problem. The more ships I have, the more fleet specialists I need. And those volunteers who arrive... I don't trust them enough to let them on the fleet's ships — at least until ISB Lieutenant Colonel Astarion gives a corresponding conclusion about their loyalty. And... there is a suspicion that I will have to use this entire "fleet conscription" primarily for a landing operation, along with B-1 droids.

— We are taking all the CR90s with us, — I said. Taking into account those that will deliver Imperial-II and Interdictors in their bowels to the place — we will have as many as twenty-eight Corellian corvettes on the battlefield. Excellent protection for the line forces. And especially — for three starships equipped with gravity shadow generators, and our Acclamator. They need protection more than ever. They, in fact, are the basis of the first part of the plan.

— Captain Pellaeon, sir, — Lieutenant Tshell's voice came from the comlink. It seems to be becoming a tradition. — Fresh data from Source Delta.

— Decrypted? — the commander of the Chimaera inquired.

— Yes, sir, — Gilad looked at me questioningly. I wonder what's so interesting there? I have already pulled the forces from the patrol to catch these conspirators.

— Send it to me, — I ordered. Pellaeon duplicated the order. — Three-hour readiness, Captain. It will take us two days to fly to Kai Fel. All Star Destroyers, all Corellian corvettes and Black Asp are going with us. Oh, and Acclamator II too. Send the fleet a signal about pre-launch readiness. Return the crews from leave, speed up the acceptance of cargo. I will send the packages with orders later, — as soon as I am alone and think about how best to proceed. — Let me know when the fleet is ready.

— It will be done, Grand Admiral, — realizing that the meeting was over, Pellaeon left my cabin.

Looking at the payment chips lying on my table, which were given to me by Lieutenant Rederik by Mr. Fodeum Sabre De'Luz, I resisted the temptation to review the information indicated on them again. There will be time for an attack on Hast.

At the moment, the data from the Imperial Palace is the most important thing.

***

— I remind you — I did not approve this plan, — Eymand said, deactivating his lightsaber. The sentient, pierced a moment ago, ceasing to be surprised by such an exotic weapon that had pierced his chest, slowly sank to the deck. — You are playing with fire. We are not ready for this.

— What's the difference? — Tiberos asked cheerfully, pulling his mace out of the head of another member of the crew of the boarded starship. — It was fun. Moreover, Ravager is ours.

— Yeah, — the former Jedi Knight chuckled. — One. Remind me how many of them the Lok Revenants have?

— Hutt knows, — Tiberos shrugged, pulling a piece of skull off his weapon's blade. — Maybe dozens, maybe more. It doesn't matter. We are not going to fight with them openly — only to lure them out and expose them to the Empire.

— When they start hunting us, — Eymand grumbled, — I'll remind you of these words.

— Let them hunt, — Tiberos smirked. — First, they need to understand who exactly managed to attack their fighter, and only then, realize that it was not the Empire that came to the aid of their hauler, but that we worked.

— And yet, I am strongly opposed to attacking pirate gangs, — Eymand frowned. — Those same fighters from the Lok Revenants have about a hundred ships — and they will properly punish us if they get to us. I'm not even talking about the fact that Nym has enough resources to hire a couple or three of the nearest gangs to hunt us. You don't expect that all this will go unpunished, do you?

— My friend, — Tiberos smiled, glancing at the blood-soaked cockpit of the Ravager-class fighter. — You don't think I just decided to declare war on a pirate group like that, without hoping for a victory?

— No, I think you have a plan, — Eymand chuckled. — But it will definitely be bad.

— Allow me to disagree with you, — Tiberos laughed. — The Lok Revenants have a score to settle with the Empire. By putting our Gozanti for an Imperial transport, we provoked them to attack. Which was not successful. Now they will scratch their brains and want to take revenge. They will find a couple of caravans and arrange a massacre. By this time, we will contact Thrawn and tell him about the pirate group that attacks Imperial caravans. Do you remember, I told you that he strongly dislikes those who attack his and other Imperial logistics routes? So, having received information about the location of their base, he will strike at them and break the spine of the pirates. And we will take part in this. We will take for ourselves everything that is lying badly, and those who survive, we will subjugate. Together with their equipment.

— Yes, only you forget that the Lok Revenants specifically have their own scores to settle with the Imperials, — Eymand reminded. — Which does not speak of the opposite. Accordingly, it is far from a fact that the Empire will want to respond. And it is unlikely that even those who survive at Loc will be useful in the matter of concentrating power in your hands. Rather, they will stab us in the back.

— In that case, we will execute them all, and requisition the equipment and hire other soldiers of fortune, — Tiberos smiled. — This Ravager, — he stomped his foot on the fighter's cockpit deck, — is a good machine. It's a pity that it was created even before the Clone Wars from the Nubian Scourge H-6 fighter-bomber. Even if we have it in a single copy, it will always be possible to organize artisanal production somewhere in a secluded place...

— You have too optimistic a view of the future, — Eymand shook his head. — I think Thrawn, if he takes up the matter, will not leave a stone unturned from the Lok Revenants base...

— He likes trophies, — Tiberos smiled. — Another thing is that they do not quite fit the type of fleet. So he will sell them. We will save up money by that time — we will buy everything that remains from him. Why work yourself, assembling a pirate fleet, if you can ask our respected Grand Admiral to be a strike force?

— The main thing is that he does not realize that you are using him, — Eymand noted. — Otherwise, it is very likely that his "strike force" will turn against us. And here I can vouch — he will not leave anyone alive.

— Don't worry, my friend, — Tiberos laughed. — Let's better think about where we will place our future pirate base. So that we don't have to think about a place for basing, repairs, the scenery is good and...

Suddenly he fell silent, hearing the quiet sound of a holographic communicator buzzer.

— No way, — he said, feeling that his face under the mask twitched nervously. — I believe in coincidences, but...

— What is it? — Eymand asked, watching another pirate descend into the cockpit of the ship and take a pilot's seat. This Ravager is too big to attach it to the bottom of the Gozanti.

— You can believe it, you can not, — Tiberos took the device from behind his belt and looked at his friend, — but I'm being called from the Chimaera. Thrawn. Personally.

The former Jedi thoughtfully scratched his head between the horns. Few people know, but sometimes Zabrak have such an itch there on nervous grounds...

— You talk, — he said, — and I'll go tell everyone that it's better to get out of here quickly. It's unlikely that Thrawn found out about our prank so quickly, but who knows what a Hutt may do!

***

— Move to the Milagro system, — I said, looking at the hologram of Captain Tiberos. — You will act jointly with the connection of Commodore Akrei Dobramu. The goal is to capture all, without exception, the ships of the New Republic and civilian starships that will be there.

— Order understood, Grand Admiral, — the privateer said. Did it seem to me or did he say it with some relief? — We will be at the meeting point in four and a half days. Is Commodore Dobramu in command of the operation?

— No, Captain of the Imperious, — the young officer should be given a chance to rehabilitate his actions in the Sluis sector. It is a pity that I cannot send any of my ships there — it will jeopardize my own mission on Kai Fel. I have to use the nearest Star Destroyer, fortunately it is not so far from its target. But to entrust command of the operation to a green youngster... No. There is a more worthy candidate. Although, is it a great merit to send a connection of a Star Destroyer, an Interdictor cruiser, a medium cruiser and several pirate vessels to capture a few freighters and possibly a warship? Probably, in any other situation, this is too much. But not when it comes to the Skywalkers-Solo couple. And if we take into account the fact that the meeting will take place literally in a few sectors from Lando Calrissian's base... What is the probability that he will be the one to provide the escort ship? Knowing his attitude towards the Alderaanian princess, it will not be a patrol boat. But I, unfortunately, do not have the opportunity to send more ships. Hutt, if only the Sentinel were moving... — The main goal is to prevent the departure of anyone from the Milagro system. Under no circumstances.

— I understand you, Grand Admiral, — Tiberos turned off the holoprojector on his side.

So, behind-the-scenes games are beginning in the New Republic. And what kind of games. To be honest, I could not even imagine that my actions would lead to the fact that the top officials of the republican special services would start acting like this...

Intriguing. So, Skywalker is flying to New Cov to dig through the dirty laundry of the Bothans. On the one hand, let him fly, why not? But on the other hand... Major Himron's task force is working on the planet, the purpose of which is to capture the contacts of the Bothans, leading to Garm Bel Iblis. The Corellian may be good, and he has not harmed me much, but there are two points. The first is that he disrupted the supply of biomolecular mass from New Cov. In fact, we have lost it. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the supply of food for the growing army and fleet. Food will have to be purchased — I did not want to attack Yukio and other agricultural worlds ahead of time, since they will still have to be abandoned later. And capture again... The same trick will not work twice. So the planet and its satellite worlds cannot be touched. It will be necessary to increase the volume of food supplies from the D'astan sector.

The second point is that this person has six dreadnoughts, and five of them are definitely in combat condition. The fact that Captain Vane managed to damage one of the heavy cruisers during the retreat is, of course, interesting, but it does not negate the very fact. Bel Iblis needs to repair his ship somewhere. And that means he will be asking for help. From whom? From the Bothans.

The strengthening of Fey'lya at the moment is beneficial to me, since in the heat of his rise to the top he pushes everyone with his elbows and knees who in one way or another poses a danger. Therefore, I will have to prevent Skywalker from getting on the trail of the Bothan connection with the Iblis cell. And at the same time — do it myself. How? Not my problem.

— Our task force killed most of Iblis's cell during the riots, — Molo Himron said after listening to the task set before him. Judging by his appearance, the man was already on Mandalore. — We have taken his confidant, Irenez, prisoner. But she is silent so far. And she is unlikely to say anything.

— Not to us for sure, — I said. The head of my intelligence gave me a long, attentive look.

— I understand you, sir, — he said.

— Are you already on Mandalore? — I inquired.

— Yes, sir, — he replied. — The infiltration was successful. In the near future, we will begin the operation to extract data from the servers of Mandal Motors and its subsidiaries.

— Good, — I said. — The fleet operation will begin in two days. I need your agents to be ready to start the cover and distraction operation in the near future.

— Everyone is in place and waiting for orders, sir, — a smirk appeared on his lips. — I have good news for you, sir. Received literally a minute ago.

— I'm listening, — I wonder, is there anything good this day?

— The information from Lieutenant Colonel Astarion about Booster Terrik's stockpiles on Tatooine and about Talon Karrde's base on Rishi has been confirmed, — he said. — I managed to reactivate our cell of freelance agents in that sector. According to their data, Karrde should soon deliver a cargo of Imperial military technologies from the Pentastar Alignment to the base.

Well, now.

— Good information, — I agreed. Mara Jade has an additional job, I must admit, very... intriguing. It seems that someone from Ardus Kaine's henchmen is flirting with smugglers at a very serious level. And it would be okay if it was something neutral, but military property... In Imperial society, there is a high demand for such. — Are your people able to remove the cargo from Tatooine on their own?

— Yes, sir, — Molo confirmed. — But the extraction will be... loud. Mr. Darklighter has a very numerous guard.

— Will such a trifle stop us? — I inquired.

— No way — Himron smirked. — One of my best agents is operating on Tatooine — his people worked on New Cov. And they will bring the operation there to an acceptable finale for you.

— I really hope so, — I noted. — Report all results and changes immediately.

When the hologram of the scout went out, I stretched my neck.

Let's get back to our Bothans.

So Fey'lya is aiming for the presidency of the New Republic. He needs to bring down Ackbar and enlist the support of the military in order to gain not only political power. The Mon Calamari is still out of danger, since there is no evidence of his connection with the Empire. Well, I have a few suitable ideas for this...

I have no doubt that if everything is left to chance, then Fey'lya will soon try to implement his card with the return of Bel Iblis from oblivion — if he cannot succeed in maintaining power over the military in any other way. This also needs to be prevented — at least to prevent the Corellian ships from falling into the hands of the New Republic. Fey'lya must strengthen so that the New Republic weakens. But he must do it in such a way that the situation is under my control.

But there is another danger...

Octavian Grant. A man, an aristocrat from the Tapani sector, the only one of the Grand Admirals who made a deal with the New Republic. He sold all the secrets of the Galactic Empire to the enemy in order to receive a pardon and live peacefully away from the events of the galaxy, knowing that he would never be affected by the law enforcement repressions of the New Republic. Unfortunately, without Thrawn's memory, I could not say for sure whether Octavian knows about my existence or not, but logic suggests that he has this information. As well as the fact that the Chiss was exiled to the Unknown Regions.

Therefore, Grant is an obstacle. Which must be eliminated. However, this must be done in such a way that no unnecessary questions arise. As the military investigators in my past used to say: in the process of investigation, the main thing is not to come out on ourselves.

And I have a suitable candidate for this. And there was a good reason that you can't pick at. If we estimate the time for this business trip, preparation, operation, then... Yes, the candidate will be absent until the end of the mission on Hast. Perfect.

Now for the sad and unpleasant.

Galen Marek and Rahm Kota do exist in this universe. Why is it sad? Because they both hate the Empire. Like Kyle Katarn, who, together with his girlfriend, not only caused a lot of trouble for the Empire in the past, but also are Republican agents. Not to mention the fact that Katarn is a potential Jedi. And he will become one in the future — in the events known to me.

Therefore, it is necessary to disrupt this operation. How? I have no idea. Only Cracken has data on it — that's why he and Princess Leia will have to be captured alive. They are a valuable resource as hostages, and as a source of information, too.

Jedi opposing the Empire is actually a stamp of this universe. And a very sad stamp — the Imperials are losing strategically. And with a crushing score. Always. Therefore, if Kota, who is a competent military commander, and a steroid-grown clone of Galen Marek, whom I simply call by his first and last name for convenience, join the New Republic, I will have a hard time. This couple can greatly confuse the cards by interfering in the process of implementing the plan. And they will surely disrupt it. And that's really sad.

Another thing is curious. It seems that the New Republic does not know that Galen Marek, whom they are looking for, is just a clone. The real one was killed on the first Death Star — it was this battle that Major Grodin Thiers watched, according to him. Later, Vader cloned his negligent student on Kamino and... it started spinning.

Kamino... The more I think about this planet, the more I realize that there, on Kamino and Rota, danger is brewing right now that is no worse. To my shame, I don't remember the date when Tyber Zann was able to capture Kamino. And during the final editing of the plan, I realized that it would be more correct to calculate the threat from the Zann Consortium not from the Battle of Endor, which happened five and a half years ago, but from the Battle of Yavin IV, when Zann got out. And therefore, it must be admitted that there are less than four months left until the moment when Kamino can issue a potential combat-ready army of clones of the Consortium. And then... everything is sad. If he also has a fleet built on Rota, then there will be very, very big trouble.

Why? Because if Zann manifests himself in the galactic arena, it will not be long before the fact comes to be understood where he gets such forces. And then you can just forget about Kamino. As well as about Rota — either the New Republic, or the Hutts, or the Imperial Space, or the forces of the Reborn Emperor — will certainly visit the planets and conduct a thorough comparison of production facilities with the rocky base of the worlds. And that's exactly what I don't need.

Hutt, how confusing everything is, however... I can't postpone the attack on Kai Fel, because it is the key to success in the battle at the Hast shipyards. I cannot speed up the production of clones and the recruitment of volunteers in order to strengthen my fleet with crews and ships. And these are not the burning questions about the army and the Stormtrooper Corps...

And it is also necessary to deal with the Kaminoan cloning system, to understand the GenoD program, to find the reason why Colonel Selid disobeyed the order...

And this is only the tip of the iceberg... Sighing, I glanced at the ship's chronometer. So, it seems that we are about to move out soon. Well, I will have two days to work on the information accumulated recently.

Pulling the cash chips of credits towards myself, I twirled them in my fingers. Then, seeing a thin line of separation, I smiled. Lieutenant Rederik clearly deserves encouragement.

Ordinary information chips in this universe are not similar to removable information carriers that are familiar to me from my past life. They look more like disks, or like microcircuits with connection ports. So what Mr. Fodeum Sabre De'Luz delivered to me is a whole work of art. I would like to know where the fleet intelligence officer got such an idea.

Having swiped a piece of a fake credit chip from a small information chip, I allowed myself to smirk. Well, it's time to patent the invention. And put it into production — the demand will be enormous.

Lieutenant Rederek invented a "flash drive." Inserting the device into the connector on the computer, I twirled the remaining fake overlay in my hands. Smirking at my thoughts, I stuck it in the pocket of my tunic.

I didn't want to lose the "flash drive cap."

***

— Audacious, Ardus, — Ysanne said, squinting her multi-colored eyes, after finishing reading the report of her agent. — Very audacious. And stupid.

The woman drummed her fingers on the table.

So he simply decided to make Thrawn switch to the rebels? By giving the enemy the coordinates of his forward base, which has not been used for a long time? Frankly, that is not serious. After all, the Grand Admiral withdrew all combat-ready ships from there, leaving only one junk.

The blow should be more sensitive. No, dear Ardus, you are right — Thrawn's main base should not be harmed, otherwise it will put an end to the fact that he will be able to continue his work properly. And yet, there is a great temptation to find out what the Grand Admiral is up to at that base. What are all these personnel and equipment rotations for? Why does he need specialized drawings from the Imperial archives, and even more fragmented ones?

Of course, there are other objects that can be attacked... And without fear of any problems. And Niles Ferrier has been living for too long... But this traitor knows too much... Thrawn made a mistake by inviting him to Tangrene. But the Morshdine sector cannot be touched. at least — now.

How short-sighted these military men are... I have to do everything myself. Only in order for my own plan not to fall apart. She does not care about the others, they are just dirt under her feet.

Ysanne activated the comlink:

— Prepare an escort squadron, — she said. — I need a ship and a pilot.

There was no answer. But she knew perfectly well that she had been heard. And the wish is being fulfilled.

It's a pity, but it seems it's time to add fuel to this dying reactor of events. However, all this will blow up in an extremely spectacular way.