Grand Admiral

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

Or the forty-fourth year, six months, and eight days after the Great Resynchronization.

There is nothing more boring than being on combat duty aboard an orbital defense station. A monotonous routine, rarely interrupted only by the intercom's drone: the commandant again and again reminded all personnel of the vigilance and high importance of their work before the KDY Directorate to protect the planet Kai Fel—the main supplier of hyperdrives and navigation equipment for starships manufactured at the shipyards of the planet Kuat, as well as other projects, such as orbital repair shops.

This pompous nonsense was already pretty annoying.

Because the garrison of each of the four Firestar-class stations perfectly understood that for the protection of objects like Kai Fel, much more was needed than four outdated stations, bought somewhere by stingy treasurers of the company, and a couple of Golan platforms. A sham, not protection. No, the officers, of course, said that they were all part of a big company plan, but listening to this propaganda was annoying. So much so that a couple of people resigned, breaking long-term contracts and leaving the stations on the nearest free freighter. They just didn't return from leave on the planet.

A not-so-frequent, but not-rare occurrence among ordinary workers. This happens when someone's nerves give out. And how can they remain calm when nothing is happening around them... Nothing happens. Despondency, in a word.

And it, in turn, gives rise to idleness. And now the members of the duty shift in the station's control room were ready to logically develop the chronology that any duty shift adhered to: to move from the "idleness" stage to the state of "mediocre performance of job duties".

Anyway, nothing was happening here, and the civilian traffic of cargo ships arriving on the planet and single ships, was controlled by the Air Traffic Control on the surface and both Golan platforms. The Firestars and their crew on the orbit of Kai Fel were nothing more than extras. Who were incredibly bored...

The voice of a junior officer in charge of the scanning systems pulled the sentient beings in the control room out of their semi-sleep.

— U-um, guys, — his intrigued voice rang out. — We have a ship.

— Kai Fel's ATC will handle it, — an immediate order came from another officer.

— It's not a civilian, — the officer in charge of the scanner systems sounded tense. — An Immobilizer-418-class interdictor cruiser. It came out of hyperspace a minute ago.

— Range to us? — the slightest interest in what was happening appeared on the faces of all sentient beings here.

— Twenty-five units away, — the artillery officer reported. — Not moving...

— Maybe something broke down? — someone suggested.

— For example, the IFF transponder, — said the senior watch officer, approaching the terminal, which was receiving data from the suddenly appeared ship. Well, it didn't look like the ships they had seen here before. It couldn't be classified as a starship arriving to buy the necessary equipment at the local retail branch of the company. — Is the ship listed in our fleet?

By "our" they meant, of course, the Kuat armed forces.

— The interdictor cruiser activated gravity well generators! — the excited and simultaneously frightened voice of one of the watch officers rang out!

— How many? — the senior officer tensed up.

— As always, two, — was the answer. Actually, nothing new - the Imperials created ships with four generators to project artificial gravity, but in fact only two were always used. Cases when all installations were used without exception could be counted on one's fingers. — The gravity cones are projected to the left of us and to the right of the neighboring station, the Golan above the northern hemisphere... Sir, this is clearly not our ship... Two Interdictor-class Star Destroyers! At a distance of one hundred units to the left and right of the interdictor cruiser! Deploying artificial gravity fields near two other Firestars!

— Combat alert! — ordered the watch officer. It seemed that some very rich pirate had dropped in to profit from transports with cargo. But they miscalculated - there were still several weeks left before the shipment of goods and the manufactured hyperdrives were in warehouses. — Guns ready - fire at the Star Destroyers to block their air wing! Activate deflectors! Destroy the ship! Launch air...

— Sir! — came the hysterical cry of one of the officers. — More ships!

— Identify!

— Beyond the range of the orbital defenses, four Imperial I-class Star Destroyers have appeared! They are holding in "blind spots"! They are firing at maximum range at the defensive stations! Only the Golan in the southern hemisphere and the Firestar on the far side of the orbit are not under attack!

— Contact Kuat immediately and alert them! — the senior officer smiled. — Well, the time has come... Guys, today we will destroy that very Imperial task force that has been sucking the blood of the New Republic! Now, while they are trying to break through our shields, our ships are already moving to help us! The enemy has clearly decided to rob Kai Fel and profit from the Kuat Drive Yards hyperdrives. But they will not succeed! Fighters and bombers are already taking off from the surface!

— All fighters and bombers have been scrambled and are going to intercept the Star Destroyers!

— Yes, we will crush them even before the arrival of the line forces and...

— An Acclamator II-class assault ship is next to us and a Victory I-class Star Destroyer is next to the Golan in the northern hemisphere! Distance of ten units to the enemy!

— Two Imperial I-class Star Destroyers have surrounded the right Firestar! Distance of ten units!

— An Imperial II-class next to the Golan in the northern hemisphere!

— Multiple reports of corvettes! Corellian design! CR90! Our fighters are under fire from enemy light forces!

— Too many... — said the senior officer. — Well, it's okay, now our turbolasers will switch from the fir...

— SIR!!!! — came a hysterical scream that could compete with ultrasound. — Proton torpedoes, sir!

— Huh? — the senior officer didn't understand. — What kind? From where?

— The Acclamator! They turned their nose towards us and launched proton torpedoes! A continuous stream of torpedoes, sir! Impact in... thirty seconds!

— They are not the only ones who fired, — came the sepulchral voice of the officer in charge of the scanning systems. — The Victory I has fired a full broadside of anti-ship torpedoes at the Golan, which is firing back with the Imperial. They are maneuvering, presenting their nose to the side of the station... Another volley... Maneuvering, starboard side... And again... And now the stern launchers...

***

— Damage on deck seven!

— Blast doors activated! Atmosphere leak prevented!

— The power of the forward deflectors has dropped by a third! We are compensating with the stern ones!

— The fourth salvo of launchers has been fired, — the first mate reported. — Launchers from sixty-first to eightieth are empty and are being reloaded!

— We're starting to maneuver, — ordered Captain I-Gor, watching eight dozen anti-ship missiles move towards the Golan orbital station, leaving long and smoky trails of fuel behind them. Proton torpedoes would be more convenient, of course, but... What you don't have, you don't have. And the destruction from them would be too great. — We are moving to a combat course. Navigator! Mark the locations of the air defense systems on the planet for the gunners!

— Targets marked!

— Discharge the left-side launchers! — ordered I-Gor.

— Launchers from first to twentieth fired!

— Three interceptors shot down!

— The enemy is conducting massive barrage fire!

— The power of the left-side deflectors is falling!

— The gunship has shot down one enemy bomber!

— Proton torpedo on the starboard side!

— Destroyed!

— Evasive maneuver! — said the commander of the Crusader. — Tell the escort to expand its coverage area! Interceptors, keep to a medium distance! Are the forward launchers ready to fire?!

— Reloaded!

— Salvo at the second-priority targets! — said I-Gor.

— Launchers locked! Salvo! Launchers from the twenty-first to the fortieth...

— Keep rotating! What's with the starboard launchers!?

— Reloading complete!

— Fire at the third-priority targets! — I-Gor glanced at the tactical display. And there... On the diagram, showing the points of the enemy's air defenses on the surface of the planet, concentrated in the projection of "blind spots", a fiery inferno was unfolding, engulfing weapons, buildings, sentients... Anti-ship missiles are terrible weapons. They are not much different from proton torpedoes in their effectiveness, but their speed... Is higher. And their directed blast effects, designed to pierce ship armor and destroy the contents of decks, are exactly what you need for pinpoint shelling of the surface. What idiots were those who, after upgrading the first series Victory-class destroyers, added ion cannons to them, depriving them of launchers... And how right Thrawn is when he says that the Star Destroyers of this type were written off too early. Just think. The New Order has considered representatives of other races unworthy to serve in the Imperial armed forces for more than twenty years, almost thirty already. And only Thrawn, remotely similar to a human, sees how much useful the Empire has groundlessly left in the past...

— The stern launchers are discharged, — the first mate reported. — All ground targets in the Aurek landing zone are hit!

— Shield power restored!

— Damage localized!

— Hangar deck: start landing troops! — ordered the commander of the Crusader. — Notify the grand admiral of our success. What about the Golan? — he asked, realizing that he had completely lost sight of the fate of the station attacked by his ship at the very beginning of the operation.

— It's burning, — said the first mate with poorly concealed satisfaction, pointing to the orbital defense platform whose deflector shields had already collapsed, unable to withstand the first salvo. — Chimaera is finishing off the remains.

— We are moving to link up with the flagship and moving to bomb targets in the Besh landing zone, — Captain I-Gor smiled restrainedly.

As the commander of the ship, he was obliged to demonstrate composure. Even if inside he wanted to shout with satisfaction at such a magnificent start to the operation on Kai Fel.

***

— The interdiction cruisers have ceased operation of their artificial gravity generators and are moving to link up with the fleet, — said Captain Pellaeon.

— Remind them not to get involved in the battle, — I said, stroking the ysalamiri by the withers. The lizard, tearing off its head, looked at me with resentment, after which it grinned. Met my gaze. Blinked, briefly covering the beads of her eyes with scaly eyelids. Put her head back on my lap. That's right. No need to be offended. It's just me because of my nerves.

I'm still on pins and needles. At least the first part of the plan worked - the "northern" Golan had lost most of its guns from the Crusader's anti-ship torpedoes. And now the Chimaera, pouring fire from all its guns on the station, and covering itself from the crazy attacks of the enemy's air wing with its own fighters, interceptors, and Corellian corvettes, was making a "voyage" around it, reaching firing range from the side of the damaged board of the Golan. I had no desire to exchange fire with the operating turbolasers of the orbital defense station. Why, if it can be destroyed quickly, simply developing the success that our Crusader had achieved?

The broadside salvos of the Chimaera landed on the fertile ground of destruction inflicted by the Victory, turning out the insides of the station, evaporating pieces of armor, internal partitions, and provoking one internal detonation after another. It was much faster and easier to "flay" the prey through an existing wound than to pick at its "skin" in another place.

Simple logic, based on knowledge from my past life, came in handy here too. However, it is logical - who would build a space object entirely from armor, including decks and partitions? This is a huge cost. And the main law of capitalism is maximum profit with minimum costs. Or something like that. I'm not an economist, I don't have to know everything.

— The assault cruiser damaged the Firestar, — said Pellaeon, receiving a new report. — The landing zones of Kresh and Dorn are conditionally free thanks to the shelling of the Relentless and the Inexorable...

— "Conditionally" does not interest us, Captain, — I reminded him. — Send our bombers to attack the Golan. It's time to end this duel.

— Yes, sir, — replied Pellaeon, issuing the appropriate orders. — If only we had more Victories...

— I agree, Captain, — I said, watching on the tactical monitor as the six other Star Destroyers of my fleet moved to implement the previously communicated orders.

The idea is simple, and I, unfortunately, do not own it.

If interdictor cruisers are able to pull ships out of hyperspace, then why shouldn't they serve as course correctors for our fleet's ships? Such a ship came out of hyperspace, deployed its generators, reported the deployment vector to the ships of its detachment - and they emerged into real space at the point assigned to them. Without the slightest deviation from the course, as would have happened if the flight had been carried out in the standard ways. With the latter, unfortunately, despite thousands of years of operation, there was still a danger of "scattering" of ships relative to their original position. So, two ships that had crossed the light barrier from points, the distance between which was measured in hundreds of kilometers, could materialize at the end of their journey either a couple of kilometers apart, or a thousand kilometers between them. A matter of blind luck and the competence of the ship navigators. And let's be honest - there were no geniuses of navigation in my fleet. Unfortunately, this is a common situation among the current Imperials.

Thanks to the Interdictors and the Immobilizer, my fleet was able to materialize exactly where it needed to be - the Crusader and the Chimaera - on the sides of the Golan, instantly diverting the attention of its crew to two targets located right under its nose. And if in normal situations they could hope that the shields would withstand turbolaser fire for a very, very long time, then the eighty anti-ship missiles of Captain I-Gor convinced them of the fallacy of their opinion.

That is why the Victory I, capable of firing twenty missiles at the enemy from each of its four sides - both sides, the bow, and stern hemisphere, was "dealing" with one of the two most combat-ready stations. At the same time, maneuvering, circling in place, Captain I-Gor could fire all eighty missiles at once in a short period. Some of them were shot down by the station's gunners and defense systems without a doubt, but the rest broke through. And they did their job, instantly reducing the combat capability of the Golan by an order of magnitude. After that, the Crusader moved to destroy the air defense forces in the first of the "blind spots." Judging by the fact that the Star Destroyer is already moving next to us, and also taking into account the report received from them, they have coped with their task and now the first wave of landing troops - a regiment of stormtroopers of the Marine Corps, is already forming a bridgehead, attracting the general attention of the ground units of Kai Fel. Help will not come to them so quickly - first, it is necessary to "clear" the Besh point by the gunners of the Crusader. A delay of a dozen minutes. Is this critical for the landed troops? Not really. But there will be heavy losses without a doubt.

But it has to be like this. After all, there are stormtroopers from Project GeNod, created by Colonel Selid. I am not sure of the loyalty of these sentients. Therefore, getting rid of them, while simultaneously achieving a certain result, will be correct. Immoral, amoral, but now there is no dilemma between "greater and lesser evil."

Pellaeon is absolutely right - it is extremely sad that I do not have more Victory-class destroyers at my disposal right now. Their launchers are a weapon to be reckoned with.

In the absence of anything better, I had to use the Acclamator II to attack another station. Yes, it does not have eighty launchers, but only two. But they are focused on launching proton torpedoes with maximum rate of fire. Given the modest number of torpedo launchers, the assault cruiser was firing at the Firestar, which was much less durable than the Golan. Staying out of the range of the station's proton torpedoes, the cruiser easily withstood the impact of laser cannons, continuously firing proton torpedoes at the enemy. Most of them were destroyed by the Kuatians, but the result is obvious - with each hit, the station continues to lose its combat effectiveness.

According to Pellaeon's estimates, both the Golan we were attacking and the Firestar that came under attack from the Acclamator II would last another ten minutes. This is enough for the Crusader to clear the Besh landing zone. And then landing ships with the 501st Legion on board will pour out of the Chimaera's hangars.

But all this is only a view of the situation from the side.

Meanwhile, the invasion operation was unfolding, moving from "phase one" - "arrival" to "phase two" - "orbital suppression of ground resistance".

The Death's Head and the Stormhawk, squeezing another Firestar from two sides, staying outside its proton torpedo launchers, with hurricane fire were penetrating the station's shields, allowing the superiority of their own starfighters over enemy fighters from this station, to solve the problem of light forces, distracting them from the bombers, which are dropping one proton torpedo volley after another on the station. Of course, these are mosquito bites, but they are targeted. The station's laser cannons, of course, are dangerous, especially when their number exceeds a hundred, but they are focused on medium-class ships, which did not seek to get close to the station itself, preferring to follow orders and protect the Star Destroyers from the very moment their hyperspace jumps were interrupted by the deployed interdiction cruisers, as well as by the Immobilizer-418 cones of artificial gravity.

The Judicator of Captain Brandei, the Inexorable under the command of Captain Alexander Mor, the Relentless of Dorja, and the Bellicose of Aban were now conducting orbital shelling in four more landing zones - Kresh, Dorn, Esk, and Forn, destroying air defenses there. Yes, a landing force will also be landed here - according to intelligence, the production of hyperdrives is divided into different areas. That is, in different warehouses - different types of equipment we need.

Destroying the infrastructure of Kai Fel makes no sense - it will only anger the Kuat Drive Yards and make them hunt me down. Loss of production and destruction of air defense and orbital defense is acceptable loss for the economy and military strength of the corporation.

But the clearing of the industry, and, moreover, vital for the entire business of the Kuat Drive Yards, is just the grounds for vendetta that will put a target on the backs of me and my subordinates. If they do not push Kuat into the hands of the New Republic completely.

In the latter, of course, I strongly doubt it. Kuat Drive Yards is a corporation with many thousands of years of history and continuous development. And for most of their existence, they were in their sector, which had the same name as their home planet, in full control of everything that was happening. Even while being part of the Old Republic, they spat on all the restrictions imposed on interstellar ships. The Galactic Empire, of course, knocked the arrogance off of them and introduced more control, but this is only demonstrativeness. You can't grasp the ungraspable. Of course, if Palpatine wanted to, he could have subjugated the Kuat sector to his power and installed his proteges there. But something tells me that this would turn into an overly expensive military campaign for the Empire. With an absolutely unpredictable outcome - even if the Kuat family did not have tens of thousands of warships at their disposal (or did have them, but simply did not spread the word), the quality of construction and armaments of their starships is much higher than that of the Trade Federation, which had one of the largest armed fleets in the galaxy.

So, this operation should be completed without any particular problems and consequences for me and my fleet from the Kuat family and their private band of thugs.

At least I hope so.

I glanced at the chronometer. Fifteen minutes have passed since the beginning of the operation. The landing party from the Crusader reported the capture of the bridgehead. Great.

Time flies. If we do not finish suppressing the defense systems and capture what we need in the next hour, we will have to retreat - otherwise the enemy may arrive at any moment. And who will arrive - a fleet of Star Destroyers or Kuat's eight-kilometer-long Mandator-class star dreadnought - only God knows.

Mandator-class star dreadnought (Kuat).

But, according to my information, the higher powers have left this galaxy.

And they did so a very long time ago. And they are clearly not going to return any time soon.

***

The Relentless, after working its engines, aimed its wedge-shaped bow towards the surface of the planet.

Around the Imperial Star Destroyer, there was chaos of battle.

Fighters and interceptors, having engaged with their opponents from the squadrons of Kai Fel, were fighting, supported by Corellian CR90 corvettes. Every now and then miniature supernovas blossomed, symbolizing the death of one ship or another. But none of them reached the triangular hull of the destroyer - barrage fire and the skill of the pilots affected the effectiveness of countering the enemy.

The expectation that the Kuatians would send not their most experienced pilots here was not justified. The air wing of the Relentless, like the starfighters of the rest of the Imperial ships, were fighting with professionals in their field. They were inferior to them in the quality of flight training, but not by much.

Dorja was not the most beloved commander in the fleet. And he himself knew perfectly well that he did not enjoy much love from the crew of his Star Destroyer. But something more durable bound them - discipline.

Everyone on board the Relentless, from the last cabin boy to the first mate, knew that their captain was an experienced space wolf. Demands a lot, but never excessively. Stern, but fair.

Although they grumbled at his harsh demands and constant training alerts, today this training was more important than ever. While almost all the TIE fighter pilots of Captain Aban's Bellicose had died, the Relentless's air wing remained almost fully intact. And successfully fought with the enemy.

Anyone who criticizes Imperial fighters is a fool who does not understand that the training of the crew is the key to victory. And during the mission on Garos IV, Dorja managed to train his people properly.

He perceived Thrawn's actions in directing his destroyer to control the extraction of resources for camouflage systems exactly as the grand admiral voiced it. He put aside his personal pride and prejudice towards the grand admiral himself, and Pellaeon. And he did what he had to do - he secured the extraction of hybridium and ensured its uninterrupted supply. Correctly implementing the time he had.

And now he was demonstrating the result. A magnificent result.

— Third-priority targets are assigned, — the senior artillery officer's voice came.

Captain Dorja allowed himself a smile. Turning around, he looked at the silent officer.

— Fire, — was all he said. Why go into lengthy discussions and pompous speeches? They are at war and the task of the crew is to destroy the enemy, to carry out the orders of the commander. He gave the order and...

Streams of green plasma, looking like thin rays of energy from the side, rushed towards the surface, burning out any resistance from the defenders.

They had already swept away the air defenses around the landing zone near the finished goods warehouse. And now, while the gunners practiced shooting at stationary targets, transport ships with troops were rushing out of the Relentless's hangar onto the surface of the planet in an endless stream, sending more and more units of the Marine Corps to their goal. To where they can clash with the defenders of Kai Fel and demonstrate to the latter the training of the Imperial Storm Corps.

Dorja looked at the tactical display.

His turret artillery had already silenced about a hundred enemy fire points, literally evaporating them along with the calculations and areas of the terrain where the hits landed.

He clearly tracked the actions of his gunners, noting that although they hit targets in most cases, they still tended to miss.

— Senior artillery officer, — he said. — Upon return to base - four additional training sessions with personnel.

— Sir? — the voice of the gunners commander sounded surprised.

— The fire of the turret guns is 67 percent effective, — said Dorja. — Thirty-seven percent of the shots miss the target. Unacceptable error for our ship.

— It will be done, Captain.

And there is no doubt that Dorja's answer was the absolute truth. He has long weaned his subordinates from deception. And instilled in them the maximum execution of orders given. There is no need to even control the execution of his will. Everyone on board the Relentless knows that it is better to complete the task than to try to wriggle out.

— Landing status, — demanded Dorja's data.

— Completed sixty percent, — was the answer received.

— Speed up, — ordered the commander of the Relentless, continuing to contemplate the flashes of green fire and yellow-orange explosions on the surface of Kai Fel.

Excellent operation. Although this is not "Base Delta Zero", which all the worlds that betrayed the ideals of the Galactic Empire deserve without exception, but a rather palpable hint at thick circumstances for the Kuat Drive Yards. They should think better and return to the bosom of the Empire...

Perhaps someday, with the same filigree ease, they will take Coruscant too.

Familiar captains from Imperial space say that the Imperial Governing Council is considering appointing Grand Admiral Thrawn as the new Emperor.

Well, in all honesty, it is worth noting that this exotic... is not bad.

But to lead the Empire... No, what nonsense. War is what Thrawn does best.

Let him do what he knows how to do and not go where he is not welcome.

He will be safer.

***

A supernova appeared near the starboard side, for a moment blocking everything in the field of vision. Even my eyes hurt from what I saw.

As funny as it sounds, I would rather look at welding than at this.

— The Golan station is destroyed, — reported Captain Pellaeon. — Captain I-Gor reports the completion of missile fire on ground targets. All targets are destroyed.

Wonderful. And I have a hundred welders frolicking with their equipment in my eyes.

It seems I have found a vulnerable point in the physiology of the Chiss.

— Proceed with the landing of troops, — the voice sounded calm, despite the fact that I wanted to cover my eyes with my hand. Instead, I continued to maintain my composure, as if nothing had happened. — Direct the Crusader to support the assault cruiser, — judging by the fact that the disfigured Firestar-class defense station was still snapping back, the cruiser was not doing very well with its task. Yes, it simply does not have enough launchers to achieve the same result as the Crusader in such a short period. And even the Interdictors and the Immobilizer-418 sent to support it did not radically change the situation. Unfortunately, I have to state that the Acclamators as combat-capable ships in modern realities, even after upgrades, are no longer relevant. Well, the Empire used them as armed transports, universal landing ships. So, you shouldn't invent something new. The facts speak for themselves. — Situation report.

— The Bellicose reports that it has lost fighters and three turrets on its starboard side, — said Gilad. — Captain Aban has at least a hundred enemy fighters against him...

— Send corvette reserves to him from those areas of the offensive where the enemy's forces have already been suppressed, — I said. The "bunnies" started to disappear. That's good already.

— The Death's Head took two proton torpedo hits from enemy fighters. There are no critical damage, Captain Harbide's destroyer continues the battle. He has already suppressed the air defense forces in his zone.

— That was to be expected. What about the other ships?

— Everything is strictly according to plan, — said Pellaeon. — Only on the Arbiter did the enemy manage to destroy one of the deflector field generators.

— Observe the situation, — I ordered, tracking how, in front of the Chimaera's nose, twisting all kinds of pirouettes, a couple of fighters of Kuatian production, which were not much different from the rest of the machines on board my flagship, were dealt with by TIE interceptors of Lieutenant Kreb from the Black Wing squadron. Easily, casually, as if in training.

This is despite the fact that Lieutenant Kreb is actually a TIE fighter pilot. And he and the pilots he had selected from various squadrons on the Chimaera mastered the TIE interceptor only before our flight to the Ciutric Hegemony, where their debut took place. Anyone who understands aviation will confirm that the speed of retraining without loss of combat effectiveness of this sentient... is incredible.

— Captain Pellaeon, — I addressed the commander of the Chimaera. — Make sure that after this battle Lieutenant Kreb enters the Tantis Spire program as one of the priority donors for the Pilot Corps.

— Yes, Grand Admiral, — said Gilad. — Sir, we are registering the approach of six enemy squadrons. Two - from the Golan-South station, four from the Firestar on the opposite side of the planet.

— The Inexorable is the closest to them, — I glanced at the tactical panel. — Tell Captain Mor to deal with the uninvited guests.

— It will be done, Grand Admiral, — said Pellaeon, listening to the report in a whisper, which Lieutenant Tschel, who had run up to him, was conducting. — Moreover, the Inexorable has already landed troops and captured warehouses with fourth-class hyperdrives. It turns out...

— Interesting, — I glanced at the chronometer. Nineteen minutes have passed since the start of the operation. And according to the plan, this should have happened only after ten. — Request information about what happened, — I would like to know how Captain Mor achieved such success. — Send the Acclamator to their landing zone - let them load the hyperdrives. The Arbiter should change its disposition and finish destroying the first station - too much time has been spent on its destruction.

Without listening to Pellaeon's reply, knowing that he would carry out the order, I immersed myself in thought.

The fourth class of hyperdrives is the one that is installed on the second type of orbital repair shop that is dangling in the orbit of Tangren. It is they that we need for the "trophification" of equipment at the Hast shipyards. We can say that the minimum plan is practically being implemented.

The first of the warehouses with finished products we need has been captured. This is... incredible. And significantly ahead of schedule. A rather pleasant surprise. But if I have learned anything during the months I have spent in this blue skin - nothing in this galaxy comes at a small price.

Captain Mor clearly did something extraordinary.

— Sir, — Captain Pellaeon was nearby. — Message from Lieutenant Jade from the Nemesis. Transmitted through an outpost in the Pakuni system and a communication station in the Chasin system, — the commander of the Chimaera's voice sounded puzzled. He can be understood - this is too elaborate a method of communication for an ordinary report. It must be assumed that the communique of the former Hand of the Emperor does not shine with ordinary details. — Encoded... Your code cylinder is required.

— Decipher and forward it to me immediately, — I said, handing Pellaeon the chromium cylinder needed to decode secret messages, which contained a one-time code for just such cases. If anyone tries to use it again, the security service will be well aware of the presence of a "rat" among the crew members. And it's easy to crush a "rodent".

Mara Jade is well aware that a military operation is now in full swing. Without details, of course. But the fact remains.

If she has resorted to such a sophisticated method of transmitting information, which is also not the most operational, then the message really contains something important.

And all I wanted was to attack the planet and get some hyperdrives... What went wrong again?

***

— New orders received from the Chimaera - to counteract the enemy's arriving reinforcements, — the first mate reported.

Alexander Mor ran his hand over his forehead, wiping away beads of sweat. Outside the Star Destroyer, a battle was raging - the Inexorable's air wing was finishing off the enemy fighters trying to escape. And they were doing it successfully, despite the losses among the TIE fighters.

Of the three squadrons, only half remained intact. Another dozen machines of varying degrees of damage were now in the Star Destroyer's repair shops. The mechanics hoped to return them to service as soon as possible. It was a pity that this method would not help resurrect the TIE bombers - all twelve were destroyed during a raid on the anti-aircraft defense systems closest to the finished goods warehouse.

— Send the interceptors, — he ordered. — And two Corellian corvettes. That should be enough for them. What about the landing party?

— Resistance suppressed, air defense systems completely destroyed, — came the answer. — Losses amount to forty-seven percent of the total number of marines stationed on the destroyer. More than a thousand wounded have already arrived at the infirmary from the surface. Two landing shuttles are out of order and are currently being repaired. There are reasons to believe that they can be put into operation in the near future.

— Good, — said Alexander. A couple of shuttles is not much. There are plenty of landing craft on board the Imperial. Especially since all the forces are now on the surface.

All that remains is to destroy the enemy fighters.

Oh, how I want to howl at the fact that there are not enough strike ships on Thrawn's fleet ships. And we have to use all sorts of "substitutes." For example, TIE bombers as assault aircraft to quickly destroy enemy firing points...

"I need to point this out to the grand admiral," Alexander thought, watching a group of enemy fighters attacking his ship from the bow hemisphere. They did not last long - the anti-aircraft artillery worked properly and as it should - the enemy flew several units before breaking into a pile of debris, useless for performing the task and completely harmless to the Imperial Star Destroyer.

Mor will have a chance to talk to Thrawn personally. The Supreme Commander will definitely ask him "a couple of routine questions." For example, about who persuaded Captain Mor to send bombers on an assault and to land the vanguard of the marines while the enemy's air defense was not yet suppressed. Eh... how we need the "Alphas"... But the Hutt Imperial Ruling Council deliberately removed the Xg-1 strike gunships from the ships transferred to Thrawn's operational command. Well, of course. Expensive toys. And most importantly - very valuable because of their effectiveness in destroying ground targets.

However, let Thrawn ask questions. He has counter-questions - for example, why he is even pretending as if he doesn't know about the existence of strike gunships. And doesn't even try to get them for his ships. No, well, it's clear. He is using the "two" as his flagship, and there are no such ships provided for by the state.

Hutt... is he afraid of meeting the grand admiral and answering for his actions? No, he's not afraid. He did what was necessary to achieve the fastest result. Thrawn may be a genius strategist, as they say about him. But not a tactician. And it is not up to him to point out the conformity or non-conformity of the independent actions of the ship's commander... It is his own business how to command the ship in battle. That's what the Charter says...

Alexander closed his eyes. Slowly exhaled.

Yes, he is justifying himself to himself.

Fell apart. He just didn't get enough sleep - since receiving orders from Thrawn he didn't close his eyes, developing his own action plan. A swift strike instead of the methodical siege that Thrawn was imposing. And as a result, he completed the task set for him in literally twenty minutes from the start of the operation, while the other ship commanders were still standing still.

— Proceed to carry out the new task, — ordered Alexander. — Report to the covering corvettes. Execute.

— Yes, sir! — replied the first mate, duplicating the order to the junior officers in the combat control room.

— Starting to maneuver! — the helmsman warned. — Course three-five-eight. Acceleration three and two.

The deck under their feet jerked, but no one even thought of falling - the usual forcing of engines, which everyone on board the Inexorable had long been accustomed to.

The almost two-kilometer gray triangle of the Star Destroyer, emerging from the planetary gravity shadow, headed towards the six enemy squadrons approaching him from the southern hemisphere of the planet Kai Fel.

TIE interceptors, having witnessed their superiority in speed with the sparks of twin ion engines, reorganized into battle formation on the move, breaking into pairs - leader and wingman - rushed forward to be the first to take part in the battle of small aircraft.

Four CR-90-class Corellian corvettes, assigned to the Inexorable for the duration of the operation, keeping the marching order - one ship in each of the four sectors: the upper and lower hemispheres, the right and left sides of the Star Destroyer, illuminated the impenetrable darkness of interstellar space by boosting their own engine complex, moved forward to the intended goal.

The shots of the corvettes' rapid-firing guns flashed red, mixed with the green flashes of the plasma shots of the Inexorable's gunners - the enemy had come within range of confident destruction.

And instantly began maneuvering - no one wanted to die. However, literally by the third salvo of the Imperial Star Destroyer's turret artillery, the fire of the Imperial TIE interceptors' rapid-firing artillery was added to the bacchanalia of the space dump, which had turned into the space battle of starfighters.

The local battle became part of the general beating of the security forces of the planet Kai Fel.

The twenty-second minute since the start of the operation was expiring, and the orbit of the main supplier of hyperdrives of the Kuat Drive Yards Corporation had finally turned into a "disco".

But no one here wanted to fall under the rays of the "light show".

However, it mostly didn't depend on the participants themselves.

Even in small battles, "big guns" decide. And the Imperial I-class Star Destroyer had a lot of these. And every artilleryman dreamed of making a mark and demonstrating his high skill.

They had already "trained" on ground targets. It's time to move on to "practical exercises in space."

Shooting at a fast and maneuverable target such as a starfighter is part of the training program for Imperial fleet gunners as "Exercise Ninety-Four". But now it is coming to the fore in the minds of the gunners.

***

— The bow deflector has dropped to fifteen percent! — came a voice from "the pit".

Morgoth glanced at the tactical display. The green hemisphere in the front of the Imperial Star Destroyer's triangle was still burning a stable orange color ten minutes ago. Five minutes ago it dropped to red when the shield level dropped to forty percent.

Now it was burning scarlet, announcing that the invisible film of energy protection of the Stormhawk had dropped to a critical level.

— State of the Firestar? — he asked.

His ship, together with Captain Harbid's Death's Head, having surrounded the orbital defense station from the flanks, using the design advantages of their starships, concentrated the fire of turbolaser and ion cannons on the only enemy. A very strong one, despite its moral "age".

Like many other planetary defense platforms, Firestar-class stations could boast excellent survivability. Armor thicker than ship armor, located in the most important parts of the station and powerful protection field generators, provided it with the role of a "punching bag".

In case of failure of the main generator, there was a backup generator inside the "box" that could create a protective field of almost the same power as the main generator. And it was exactly with this that two Imperial destroyers were now struggling, relentlessly pounding the sphere of deflectors surrounding the Firestar with salvo after salvo, receiving in return volleys from almost a hundred and fifty laser cannons. Too weak to destroy the shields of the ships in one fell swoop, but too rapid-firing and penetrating the main protection of the Imperial Star Destroyers over time. Unfortunately, both the destroyers and the station had the same range of fire. The only difference was in the weight of the salvo and the qualities of the guns. Turbolasers and ion cannons versus rapid-firing lasers, dangerous only for starfighters and medium-sized ships, which prudently stayed away from the station.

Now most of this type of orbital defense stations have long been decommissioned and are in service only with the governments of remote or poor star systems that cannot afford more expensive and technological defense systems. Many of these stations have long been converted into trading or customs terminals.

But not these. Kuat took them out from somewhere and delivered them here. Apparently, the company's management did not even try to bring them to full combat readiness. Regularly equipped with maneuvering engines, the Firestars in Kai Fel's orbit did not even try to change their position in any way, simply absorbing the damage, and snapping back in practically powerless anger.

Being at a distance of ten units from the Firestar, both ships remained outside the range of the hurricane fire of the proton torpedo launchers that these orbital fortifications could boast of. But, unfortunately, unlike the Crusader, the Imperial ones lacked their own launchers, which did not allow them to finish the battle in one fell swoop.

— Station's deflectors at fifty percent, — came the report.

— Port side, — ordered Morgoth. — Warn the Death's Head about our maneuver.

To expose the right side to numerous stinging blows of the station means to withdraw the turret artillery of the left side from the battle. But in this case, the ship will continue to remain intact for a long time. Yes, the number of barrels directed at the enemy will be reduced, but instead of turrets, the side batteries will join the battle. So, the reduction in firepower will be insignificant.

— Captain Harbid reports that he is acting in a mirror image, exposing his left side, — a new report came.

— Don't weaken the shelling, — ordered the commander of the Stormhawk.

— Message from the Chimaera, sir! — the comm officer reported.

— Report!

— The Grand Admiral is sending the Crusader to us to suppress the air defense forces of Kai Fel, — he said. — We and the Death's Head are instructed to continue shelling the station.

— Shame, — the first mate muttered, appearing nearby. — Our pair is the only one of all who has not yet dealt with their goal. And we definitely won't make it by the set time.

— But our destroyers did not suffer any damage at all, except for the fall of the shields, — interrupted the self-flagellation of Astorias, who had a single calm and extremely eloquent glance enough to put his subordinate in his place.

The first mate, unable to withstand the visual claim to personal dignity, turned away, heading to the senior artillery officer with a clear intention to soap his neck. According to the old military tradition, a "charge of vivacity" will be instantly released down the chain of command and will properly heat up the gunners who are already not cooling down by the guns.

Normal practice, nothing new.

Morgoth turned to look at the tactical display. Now he was not interested in the state of his ship in the first place. He needed to understand the course of the entire operation. So, most of the Star Destroyers have already successfully suppressed or are completing the destruction of the enemy's air defense firing points. Therefore, they are already moving to the landing.

The Death's Head and the Stormhawk still have time before the deadline set by the grand admiral. Only half an hour to destroy the enemy's defense system. Too little, considering how tough a "nut" Astorias and Harbid have come across. However, Thrawn has already adjusted the plan in view of the changes - the air defense forces in the landing zones from these two Star Destroyers are already being successfully suppressed by Captain I-Gor on his Crusader.

Judging by the fact that the specified Star Destroyer had already entered the lower layers of the atmosphere without any fear, either I-Gor had become completely insolent, or he believed in his impunity. Either way, his tiny destroyer was spewing out dozens of anti-ship missiles, which, thanks to their homing heads, turned the enemy's defense forces into trash before the landing barges or shuttles appeared in the atmosphere.

Even without the help of special equipment, the oceans of fire that the Victory I was dropping on the heads of Kuatian soldiers were visible. They command respect, at least in that they have not yet run away. They are standing to the last.

A true Imperial hardening. I wonder how many of those who are now being destroyed by the forces of Grand Admiral Thrawn were former soldiers and officers of the Armed Forces of the Galactic Empire who defected to the corporation after the Battle of Endor and the death of Emperor Palpatine?

There were many of them. If the stormtroopers continued to serve their commanders and did not ask questions, then the officers of the fleet and the army, and especially the pilots, who considered themselves "white bone", were well aware of the fact of their betrayal, going to serve the management of Kuat Drive Yards.

Morgoth managed to identify at least seventy times in the actions of enemy pilots the characteristic Imperial techniques that pilots were trained in the corresponding academies. This only clearly confirmed his assumptions - the Imperials were fighting with former Imperials.

However, the latter are traitors.

Perhaps for this very reason Morgoth did not feel any emotion whatsoever, watching as his pilots and gunners destroyed the enemy.

Without pity, without delay.

They are not former colleagues in front of them - only enemies.

— The shields of the station have dropped to three percent! — the first mate brought unexpected news.

— How so? — asked Morgoth.

— The generator exploded, — said the first mate with grim anticipation in his voice. — A couple of seconds and...

Another salvo of turbolasers hit the station's armor. Good, thick armor.

But not able to withstand such a hurricane shelling.

On the battery deck of the station, a chain of internal explosions ran along the direct hit, exposing the vulnerable inside of the Firestar.

— Turn the nose to the enemy, — ordered Morgoth. — Maximum rate of fire on the breaches. Order to the hangar team: start landing troops. Aviation - to escort the barges and shuttles with the marines.

— Yes, sir! — said the first mate, who was clearly pleased with the turn of events.

It seems that more than anyone else on the ship, the deputy commanders of the Star Destroyers are happy about the successes of this crew. In principle, this is logical, if we take into account the fact that it is the first mates of the ship's captain who are responsible for the training of the entire crew.

And today, every member of the Stormhawk's crew showed himself in the best light. All that remains is to push through...

Sixteen seconds after the shields fell, the third Firestar in this battle exploded, destroying in a flash of flame and the subsequent shock wave the few escape pods that had just appeared in space a moment before.

The Stormhawk unleashed its wrath on the surface, burning out the few remaining resistance of the population of the planet Kai Fel, along with its defenders.

And the landing shuttles were already landing near the finished goods warehouses.

Second-class hyperdrives for warships belonging to the class of cruisers, were in the hands of Grand Admiral Thrawn's subordinates.

All the tasks set for the fleet by the Supreme Commander were completed in twenty-seven minutes and thirteen seconds.

Now it's up to the Storm Corps.

***

Having run my eyes through the lines of the report from Mara Jade, I barely managed to restrain myself from a disdainful grimace.

You can't. Under no circumstances can you take this sentient's word for it.

Moff Disra.

That very cunning... what the hell? How much I want to speak out with a strong word, confirming the idiom that in the armed forces they do not swear with profanity, but express themselves. Which largely reduces the time of transmission of orders and increases the speed of their perception by subordinates.

But not in this universe. This is not accepted here. The Charter does not allow it. And the authority of Thrawn is always calm, reasonable, ready for anything.

So, according to the moff, Kane is plotting against me. Disra intends to use this to take his place. And unambiguously indicates his further intentions - to arrange a redistribution of power among the Imperial Remnants, dividing them between us, the two of us.

Well, he has enough ambition. Considering the fact that he is known in the Imperial environment for "undermining" one sector governor in order to take his place, for the betrayal of his friend, Grand Admiral Tigellinus. And also, according to the duology "The Hand of Thrawn": "Specter of the Past" and "Vision of the Future", it was this "comrade" (who is not a comrade at all), who used an actor, disguised as the deceased Thrawn at that time, in order to disrupt the negotiations of the Remnant of the Empire and the New Republic, aimed at concluding a peace treaty.

In short, this man is as deceitful as his own ambitions are great. And the latter, it seems, have neither end nor edge.

Actually, here is the confirmation of my thoughts that my actions regarding political negotiations are by no means a secret for the leadership of the Imperial Remnants. In the Star Wars history I know, the real Thrawn did nothing of the sort after starting his campaign against the New Republic. And therefore, I have "broken" history completely, since such a seasoned intriguer and traitor as Moff Disra decided to do something like this.

The fact that shipbuilder Ryan Zion is somehow involved in this is doubly unpleasant. If he is a close friend of Disra, then the engineer should be eliminated - allowing him access to the secrets of Tangren, and even more so - to the Tantiss facility - is deadly dangerous. All secrets will flow directly to Disra.

However, it is too early to draw conclusions. The shipbuilder may not be aware of the situation and has become a victim of Disra's manipulation. After all, by "resurrecting Thrawn", he managed to deceive hundreds of thousands, if not millions of Imperials. But this has not happened yet. But the betrayal of Grand Admiral Tigellinus, a man who in politics and intrigues of sentients felt like a fish in water, is already an indicator of Disra's ability to "bamboozle".

And yet, the latter allegedly has information about Kaine's actions against me. This is... Unpleasant. Because the grand moff may indeed be badly "misunderstood" by his subordinates if it turns out, first of all, to be true, and secondly, it becomes public knowledge. Most likely Disra intends to use this method of development of events. The only question is whether his "intriguing data" is true. Or will all the evidence be fabricated to pit me against Kane?

One way or another, we will have to act. And most likely - even agree to an alliance with Disra. If he is right, then the support of his actions against Kaine will allow me to gain, albeit unreliable, but support. Perhaps - additional funds or ships. The more the Imperials are weakened in my favor before the start of the campaign of the Reborn Emperor, the more of his own reserves Palpatine will have to spend. And therefore, the more ships and personnel he will be forced to withdraw from bases inside the Deep Core, and at the time of the explosion of Byss (if it takes place), there will be a minimum amount of military power concentrated there compared to the original timeline. Hmm... before, I had not even thought about this. But the idea is interesting.

In the same case, if Disra has no evidence and only intends to intrigue against Kane, then here is the "proof by contradiction". The fact of his betrayal can be used to gain the short-term support of Kaine himself. Again - for the sake of money and ships. The grand moff is clearly a more reasonable man than the former friend of Grand Admiral Tigellinus. And more pragmatic.

And therefore, a decision must be made immediately.

Having typed an answer and encrypted it, I handed the datapad into the hands of Lieutenant Tschel, who had approached. The young officer accepted the device as if it were the greatest value in his life. However, in a certain sense, it was.

— Send to Lieutenant Jade on the Nemesis immediately, — I ordered.

— Yes, sir, — said Tschel briskly.

— Contact Moff Ferrus, the commandants of the bases on Weyland, Lainuri, the commander of the outpost in the Pakuuni system, as well as immediately duplicate the information to the commanders of each of our operational formations in the galaxy, — I ordered. — Switch to "yellow" alert level. An enemy attack is expected. Send to the Sentinel and the Neutron Star - "Immediately take measures to move to Tangrene. If this is not possible, ensure the combat capability of the ships and their safety in case of an attack."

— I-it will be done, Grand Admiral, — stammering, said Tschel, moving to the side and almost bumping into Captain Pellaeon, who had approached my chair, attracted by the orders given. After squeaking "Sorry!", the lieutenant almost ran to the communications compartment.

— Do we have a problem, Commander? — the commander of the Chimaera asked with poorly concealed anxiety.

— We can't do without them, Captain, — I said evasively. — Focus on completing the current task. Now the remnants of the Kai Fel defense forces are our main problem.

Gilad coughed softly and returned to the "pits".

The chronometer counted down the twenty-seventh minute since the start of the operation.

Fragments of most of the enemy squadrons were circling in orbit of the planet. One Golan-class station and three Firestars ceased to exist.

A full-scale landing has begun.

Looking at the data on the losses of the fleet, I chuckled with satisfaction. Barely audibly, so that no one would witness this fact.

It seems that my fleet is not made of slackers. A little more than ten squadrons of various types of starfighters were lost, a little more than a legion of stormtroopers killed, and two thousand wounded. Four CR90-class Corellian corvettes were heavily damaged, but were capable of jumping to hyperspace. The damage to the Star Destroyers, of course, was not small, but it could be repaired at the shipyard within a day of the crew and masters working together.

Having ordered to move the damaged corvettes "in tow" to the Chimaera and the Relentless as the two least damaged in the battle Star Destroyers with the least number of losses among the air wing, I stroked the ysalamiri by the withers.

Either we have become better at fighting, or the enemy we came across was not the strongest.

I didn't really believe the latter. And I was afraid to believe the former, so as not to experience the bitterness of disappointment in the future.