Nine years, ten months, and twelve days after the Battle of Yavin...
Or the forty-fourth year, ten months, and twelve days after the Great Resynchronization.
(Five months and thirty-two days since the Arrival.)
Captain Hoffner looked fearfully at the hulking relay towards which his freighter was approaching.
The massive structure in the Koros sector was ancient and seemed extremely fragile.
And the fact that a Type Action V transport ship, with its cargo bay open, was approaching the installation at low speed didn't inspire confidence.
Neither did the fact that they were inside New Republic territory.
Which would certainly not appreciate Dominion technicians connecting to one of the most ancient relays.
The transport's cargo hold, full of Imperial equipment, would definitely raise many questions if the captain ran into patrols.
But that was precisely why he'd been recruited for this fleet assignment — he knew a couple of 'good' Republic customs officials who, for a small fee, let ships slip past the patrols.
Detaining those ships for various reasons at specific points in space.
And Hoffner's ship had taken advantage of just such a 'window.'
"Cables connected," said a young man with blue hair, entering the cockpit and sitting in the operator's chair. "You can shut down the engines and activate the magnetic grapples. Preferably don't jolt the equipment so as not to disrupt the operation."
"And how long do we have to stay here?" Hoffner asked discontentedly. "Mr. Pent, I don't want to risk my life sitting with Imperial encryption hardware right under the New Republic's nose."
"Waiting for a message from the Chimaera," the boy shrugged. "We just need one command — and we'll finish intercepting all communications going through this relay."
"I hope your equipment works," Hoffner grumbled. "Otherwise, the fleet from Empress Teta will converge on us, and then we'll be in big trouble."
"It's a freighter from Karrde's fleet," Mr. Pent reminded him. "We can always run. But not until the signal comes from the Chimaera. And now, if you don't mind, I'd like to get back to the work I was pulled away from by the Grand Admiral's urgent assignment. I was almost successful..."
Captain Hoffner said nothing.
What was the point of arguing with this youngster?
Better to sit and worry about his own precious hide.
* * *
Despite its name, the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer Red Dragon had not a single element of that hue on board.
Nor did the Star Destroyer take anything whatsoever from dragons, whatever they might be.
It was simply that someone in the upper echelons of power, most likely the Emperor Palpatine himself, had at some point liked this sonorous name.
Or maybe he'd just signed off on a list approving names for the Imperial Navy ships without looking at it.
The commander of the Red Dragon paced along the central platform of the combat bridge, haughtily surveying the specialists working in the 'pits.'
Despite the fact that this Star Destroyer, like six others, belonged to the Ubiqtorate fleet and reported directly to that organization's command, the crews consisted exclusively of Naval specialists.
Who, it must be admitted, were not very loyal to the ISB's intelligence officers and operatives.
And as for the Ubiqtorate itself — the pinnacle of the entire intelligence and counter-intelligence apparatus — the Star Destroyer crews absolutely hated it.
Except on the Red Dragon — here, some of the best specialists from the entire remainder of the Imperial Starfleet had been assembled.
Loyal, motivated, dedicated to their work, to the New Order, and to the Dominion.
Excellent executors — and they, without batting an eye, had destroyed a transport carrying relatives of traitors from the Star Destroyer Void Wanderer at the Bilbringi shipyards.
Excellent work.
A pity it couldn't be finished.
But they didn't dare say this aloud, since most of the senior officer corps on each of the Ubiqtorate ships were that very loyal force ensuring the execution of Imperial intelligence command's secret plans.
Station Epsilon Nine was located in a giant asteroid belt called the Cron Drift, in the Auril sector, not far from the Parlemian Trade Route, the Cronese Mandate, and the Tion Cluster.
Once, the Cron Drift had been a small nebula.
According to historical records, it was a place of astonishing beauty, but about four thousand years ago, followers of a fallen Jedi named Exar Kun used their accursed power to trigger the detonation of the stars in the Cron cluster.
This destroyed the nearby planets, turning their remains into an asteroid field.
For a long time, the Cron Drift served as a secret refuge for criminals: pirates, smugglers, marauders...
After the abandonment of the Morshdine sector, the Ubiqtorate fleet was based on one of its stations in the Pentastar Alignment. However, after the disappearance of three Star Destroyers sent in pursuit of the deserters on the Void Wanderer, Agent Blackhole ordered a change of base for the remainder of his fleet.
Thus, six Ubiqtorate Star Destroyers — the Red Dragon, Tyranny, Titan, Shieldmaiden, Assassination, and Eviscerator — began basing themselves here.
Most of those serving in the Ubiqtorate fleet don't know exactly when Imperial Intelligence built the Epsilon Nine research and communications station in this corner of the galaxy. Even fewer have any idea what exactly the Ubiqtorate does at this station.
Simple executors aren't briefed on what's happening — that's what they are, executors. For the Ubiqtorate, anyone who isn't a multiply vetted, loyal employee of their organization with years of service is nothing more than an executor.
The Navy had long since gotten used to this — ever since they proclaimed the New Order, and Intelligence, along with Counterintelligence and other government dignitaries, began running the ships the moment they set foot on deck.
However much this contradicted the concepts of subordination and the millennia-old traditions of the Armed Forces, the Empire's intelligence services always stood several ranks above ordinary military personnel.
And it wasn't for them to ask questions about what the agents and operatives were doing.
No, of course, there were recalcitrant commanders who wanted to know everything — but such men disappeared from the officer corps fairly quickly.
And no one ever heard from them again.
The task of the ship group was only to deliver specialists from the station to the HoloNet relays and escort them back, as well as to defend the station itself.
Which, actually, was quite capable of defending itself against a small enemy flotilla.
For the most part, the Star Destroyers conducted single sorties to various corners of the galaxy.
And there were always Ubiqtorate officers on board.
Obviously, the Star Destroyers were delivering agents who, one way or another, gathered data on the New Republic and the planets that had joined it.
Including former Imperial fortress worlds that had broken their earlier Oath.
Given his experience, the commander of the Red Dragon perfectly understood that their actions were nothing less than preparation for a full-scale campaign.
The Ubiqtorate was gathering information on the defensive capabilities of enemy worlds, and it was perfectly clear that the forces of six starships couldn't capture the targeted planets.
Obviously, the scouts and operatives were preparing an informational beachhead for someone among the Imperial Remnants.
The commander of the Red Dragon sometimes occupied himself with thoughts about who would lead the Empire's counter-offensive against the New Republic.
After all, now was the perfect moment for it.
Grand Admiral Thrawn, despite being a despicable xeno, was quite deftly and skillfully fraying the enemy's nerves, crushing their defenses, and smashing their combat ship formations to dust.
The New Republic was weakened, and many sectors had already seceded from it, which primarily allowed the Empire to seize the opportunity and strike back, reclaiming what was rightfully theirs.
All that remained was to choose the most tempting target — and again, that blue-skinned xeno had demonstrated that even the Imperial Center in enemy hands was not as impregnable a bastion as the New Republic would have liked.
The commander of the Red Dragon paced the bridge, pondering whether he might be at the head of the Ubiqtorate flotilla when they decided to strike.
And the target had to be suitable, correct, worthwhile...
"Multiple targets on sensors!" the senior officer's voice jolted him from his thoughts.
"Identify them," the Star Destroyer commander barked in a tone that would have drowned out a battle-station siren. "Report uninvited guests to the station!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Identification complete!"
"Report," the officer was already moving towards the control terminal from which the senior officer was reporting.
"Sir, it's the Arbiter, the Black Star, the Eradicator," the latter listed in a disconcerting tone. "Have our ships returned?"
"Don't be an idiot," the commander of the Red Dragon requested. "The crews of those starships don't know about this base's existence! And for some reason, they're entering the system on our vectors, avoiding the minefields! By the Hutt! More ships! And also Star Destroyers, Mark Is! The Void Wanderer, the Abyssal Fury, the Red Gauntlet!"
"The Inexorable, sir!" the watch officer reported. "It came out last! With it, two interdictor cruisers and a Venator-class star cruiser. Multiple contacts for Corellian corvettes and frigates! Gravity mines activated! We're trapped!"
That's an understatement.
Base "Epsilon Nine" wasn't just a massive asteroid storing the secrets of the Ubiqtorate. It was also part of an asteroid belt generously surrounded by minefields.
Minefields whose positions in space shifted regularly based on command signals from the station.
The commander of the Red Dragon broke out in a cold sweat.
"Reforming into a battle formation! Three task groups — two groups of three Imperials each, and the last — "
"Sir, the communications arrays are down!" the comms officer declared.
"What kind of joke is this?!" the man asked, taken aback. "We were receiving data ten minutes ago, how can they be inoperative?!"
"Sir, it's physical damage," the comms officer explained. "Someone or something cut our communications cables — both primary and secondary."
"That can't be," he muttered, stunned. "Saboteurs!"
It was the only logical explanation for what was happening to their communications systems.
Forty units out from the station, within the minefield that formed a spherical defensive position, the six Star Destroyers uncompromisingly shifted to a defensive posture.
Boxed in on one side by asteroids with space mines among them, and on the other side by... more space mines.
Laser-based communication was impossible in this situation — the distance between the station and the ships was far too great.
Meanwhile, the enemy Star Destroyers were already at a distance of eighty units, on the verge of opening fire on the Ubiqtorate's ships! Staying beyond the range of the minefields and the station's artillery!
"Form the Star Destroyers into a line abreast!" ordered the commander of the Red Dragon. "Send a shuttle to Epsilon Nine for instructions!"
A line formation would allow his six Star Destroyers to stay together, relaying messages to each other via laser beam.
Contact with the base was lost until the shuttle reached command and returned with instructions on how to face Grand Admiral Thrawn's ships.
That wretched alien had betrayed them!
The commander of the Red Dragon was already putting the pieces together without difficulty.
The Inexorable — one of the ships originally under the last Grand Admiral's command.
The Red Gauntlet — a former Republic Star Destroyer captured by Thrawn at the Battle of Honoghr.
The Eradicator, the Black Star, the Adjudicator — former Ubiqtorate ships sent to Tangrene to intercept the Void Wanderer. Which was also present here! After all, its commander intended to join Thrawn!
The Abyssal Fury, based on its engine signatures — formerly the Allegiance, another former New Republic ship captured by Eric Shohashi from the rebels at the Battle of Milagro.
The interdiction cruisers were the Immobilizer-418s called the Lovchiy and the Limiter, which Thrawn had originally had at his disposal.
The only thing missing here was the Chimaera and another pompous speech from the Grand Admiral over the HoloNet to confirm who was responsible for all this!
But how, in the name of the Emperor's black bones, did he find out about the base's location?!
How did he disable the communications systems?!
And what in the name of a Hutt were they supposed to do now, given that the enemy had launched...
Vulture-class droid starfighters?!
Seriously?!
What kind of junk was that?!
The commander of the Red Dragon began to calm down a bit.
What could a bunch of obsolete droid starfighters, whose rightful place was in a scrap heap, possibly do to space mines?
* * *
Apparently, Grand Admiral Thrawn had never intended to use even a fraction of the tactics Captain Mor sent him every week.
Alexander had long since come to terms with the fact that it was merely a light punishment for a commander who had suffered heavy losses.
So, continuing to send the information, he decided it wouldn't hurt to show Thrawn that he wasn't wasting time by carefully thinking through each attack plan.
And they had performed admirably when he attacked Moff Devian's ground forces, bringing a distant system under Dominion control.
Not that four-armed lizards at a low development level were exactly what a flourishing power needed, but it was what it was.
Moff Delurin was destroyed, and the Svekk system, with its abundant mineral resources and hardworking population, was now part of the Dominion. And even if Moff Delurin's influence and his Imperial ambitions wouldn't be uprooted from the local population's minds anytime soon, the Dominion had gained a well-hidden base deep in Wild Space, one that would always find a use.
Perhaps Mor's rapid success in eliminating Moff Delurin was what predetermined his command of the operation to destroy or capture the Ubiqtorate's fleet and base.
Then again, "destroy" was certainly an overstatement.
Lying to yourself was the gravest sin any Star Destroyer commander could commit.
These ships would undoubtedly be captured.
That was why the Dragon-Four was part of his task force.
Star Destroyers were far too valuable a commodity to simply destroy, rather than disable and later add to the Dominion's regular fleet.
"The Star Destroyers' communications systems are down," the silver-haired man who had arrived on the Inexorable with the assault commando unit reported. "The enemy is unable to communicate with each other. Proceed, Captain."
"It's not time yet," Alexander declared, continuing to watch the enemy prepare for battle.
A Dominion Intelligence agent, tasked with overseeing the capture of the databases stored on the Epsilon Nine station.
Alexander didn't know his name, nor was he supposed to have such information as part of his duties.
Even if the Dominion wasn't the Empire, but "something else," the principles of secrecy had never changed.
Finally, data that the space mines had begun moving came in from the crew of the Inexorable.
The cage they had built for themselves was beginning to close with an inexorable roar.
That was the sound of the six Star Destroyers' hopes of winning this confrontation crumbling.
"Dragon-Four, strike Base Epsilon Nine," Alexander ordered. "Launch the droid starfighters."
He watched the enemy reorganize their ships to restore communications.
And he understood perfectly well that the ability to act in a coordinated manner would be a significant advantage for the Ubiqtorate ships in their confrontation with the Dominion fleet.
Just as the presence of minefields, whose maps could be changed on the station's command, would be.
The fact that Intelligence had managed to disable the communications systems on the Ubiqtorate ships deprived them of the ability to receive timely data on the mines' new positions.
The strike on the station deprived the Ubiqtorate of any possibility of altering the new configuration if they detected the Dominion Star Destroyers advancing toward their defensive perimeter.
And so, two powerful ion cannon blasts struck the nearly five-kilometer-wide asteroid, completely disabling all its electronic devices.
The trap snapped shut.
Watching the white-blue lightning dance across the asteroid's surface, Alexander nodded in satisfaction at his own thoughts.
Although it was never stated openly, Captain Mor suspected that the buzz droids of the "Morrt" Project had had a hand in both discovering the Ubiqtorate's secret base and disabling the communications of the six Star Destroyers. The Dominion's regular fleet ships had been filling the systems they visited — and especially where they fought — with large numbers of these droids.
At some point, the Ubiqtorate Star Destroyers had picked up these "little ones" and brought them to their base.
Alexander glanced at the tactical monitor showing his task force's formation.
The Inexorable, the Lovchiy, the Limiter, and the Dragon-Four held the center of the enemy's defensive position.
The Void Wanderer, the Abyssal Fury, and the Red Gauntlet formed an attack triangle on the left. The Adjudicator, the Eradicator, and the Black Star on the right.
The ships had closed to turbolaser firing range.
Zeroing salvos had already broken the darkness of space.
At this range, penetrating deflector shields would be nothing short of fantastic, so Alexander had the opportunity to move to the second and third parts of his plan to capture the Ubiqtorate fleet.
Without worrying that the enemy might call for reinforcements or change the minefield's configuration, Captain Mor watched the droid starfighters approach the space mine markers.
He had had to lobby hard for this approach with the Grand Admiral, but in the end, neither he nor his ships were taking any risks by attacking the enemy in this position.
The situation was, in fact, far from pleasant.
The Dominion had the advantage in the number of Star Destroyers, the presence of support ships, and data from the buzz droids on the mines' current locations.
The enemy had the same information, with the only exception being that Alexander hadn't split his force into three groups for no reason.
In any minefield, regardless of the configuration it might have taken during the buzz droids' entire time there, there was always a safe channel for ships to exit the protected perimeter.
And the six Dominion Star Destroyers were precisely blocking that known channel.
Furthermore, they were preventing the enemy from concentrating fire, breaking up his force into smaller units to disperse their attention.
And now, the positions of the space mines had changed.
Whether a new channel existed or not, neither the Dominion nor the Ubiqtorate knew.
Only the men controlling the minefield knew that.
But now their computers were fried, and recalling the winding vector for an exit through the minefield from memory was definitely a task beyond the human mind. The sheer volume of data required for such a vector was immense.
Memorizing it was incredibly difficult.
And even more so, it was unlikely anyone had bothered to do so unless they anticipated a strike on the station.
Consequently, the Ubiqtorate ships were locked inside their own station's perimeter.
The Epsilon Nine's guns would not support the attack — they were de-powered.
The crews' survival instincts would not let them advance into the minefield — detonating even a few space mines would be enough to severely damage a starship.
And if a detonation occurred near the reactor, the best option would be death from the solar ionization reactor's explosion.
But Mor's ships couldn't just sit in space either, waiting for the enemy to either fix their communications or exhaust all their supplies on board the Star Destroyers.
In the first case, the Ubiqtorate ships might call for help — and who knew who would answer and with what forces. The nearest sectors were full of systems loyal to the New Order.
And one of the key principles of the current operation was secrecy.
Therefore, Alexander would have to go on the attack against the enemy.
And it would seem that the presence of the minefield was also an obstacle for the Dominion fleet.
But this was where the droid starfighters came into play.
Old machines, taken from the Black Pearl and two Munificent-class frigates captured by Captain Tyberos.
There weren't that many of them — only a couple of hundred.
But then again, they weren't a loss.
Not a single one.
Unlike pilots.
Mor would never have given the latter the role of mine-sweepers.
Alexander watched as the droid starfighters, guided by their electronic brains and orders, closed in on the space mines, blasting them with their laser cannons.
Multiple miniature explosions indicated a passage was being cleared through the minefield — exactly so the Dominion forces could enter the defensive perimeter and capture the station, the ships...
Speaking of the latter.
"Dragon-Four, strike the Shieldmaiden," Alexander ordered.
The designated Star Destroyer was to the right of the Red Dragon — the flagship of the Ubiqtorate squadron. Further along the same side were the Tyranny and the Titan.
On the left side were the remaining two: the Eviscerator and the Slayer.
However, the third phase of the offensive was entirely focused on the Red Dragon.
Alexander had no doubt that the commander of this Star Destroyer was maintaining contact with the other ships via laser communication.
It was a decent, and most importantly, the only solution given the disabled communications systems.
The only problem was that a laser beam didn't have a very long range, and if there was an obstacle in the direct line between two ships, it was useless.
And again, a double burst from the ion cannon cut through the blackness of space.
But this time, although both shots found a target, it wasn't the intended one — space mines that happened to be in the way detonated.
"Repeat," Captain Mor ordered. "Following the Shieldmaiden, consecutively: the Eviscerator and the Tyranny."
The commander of the Inexorable understood that the designated targets would be hit sooner or later.
An extra "gap" in the Ubiqtorate station's defensive perimeter was no problem.
They just needed a little more time to doom the crews of the enemy starships to despair.
On the third salvo, the Dragon-Four hit its intended target: the Shieldmaiden stopped firing its artillery.
Its running lights went out, the glow of its engines faded astern — the Star Destroyer plunged into darkness.
"Now the Eviscerator," Alexander ordered, briefly glancing at the Dominion agent, who was clearly interested in what was happening.
The Dragon-Four, again blasting a breach in the minefield, took more than one salvo to hit another starship.
The second pair followed the Shieldmaiden's example and froze in space as a silent hulk.
Just like the first target, blocking the transmission of information via laser beams from the Red Dragon to the other Ubiqtorate starships.
"Interesting tactic," the agent said. "Cutting the ships off from the command center?"
"Exactly," Alexander confirmed.
"Wouldn't it have been simpler to take out the Red Dragon first?" the agent clarified.
"Simpler, yes," Captain Mor agreed. "But my unit has a crew that has a personal 'score to settle' with that Star Destroyer, its crew, and its commander. I'm not going to deprive them of the right to settle accounts with the murderers of their families. The choice is theirs. Thrawn ordered me to observe and not interfere with their decision."
The Dominion agent didn't reply, looking silently at the commander of the Inexorable.
Mor thought he saw genuine respect in the man's eyes.
And a desire to kill someone very specific for this silver-haired man.
He must have imagined it...
* * *
Captain Abyss gripped the railing installed on the bridge of the Void Wanderer tightly, modeled after the layout of a combat command center from the "Troyka" project ships.
The modification was jury-rigged, done by the crew's own efforts, but that didn't make it useless.
The commander stared at the picture of the battle unfolding before him.
The knuckles on his fingers were white.
Now he had to decide what was more important for him and his crew: to engage the enemy personally, risking heavy damage to the Void Wanderer, or to yield to the overall plan of the current operation, capturing the murderers of his subordinates' families with minimal losses.
Personal vengeance or the greater good.
A choice that faced every officer who came face to face with the killer of his family.
A difficult choice.
Every fiber of his being, all the rage and pain accumulated over time, cried out for the first...
The second was supported by the cold calculation of the unacceptable losses his crew would suffer in a firefight with an obviously stronger enemy in open combat.
The desire to drown out his own pain clashed with the prospect of hardships and grief for comrades who would die in this battle.
The Dominion fleet had already disabled three of the six Ubiqtorate Star Destroyers.
Now it was the turn of the Red Dragon, the Tyranny, and the Slayer.
"Telemetry received from the Inexorable," the watch officer reported to the ship's commander.
Coming close and handing over a datapad with the information, the watch officer looked at his commander's unnaturally rigid posture.
"Sir...?"
"Begin reformation," Abyss said in a hoarse voice, not taking his eyes off the main viewport.
Out there, the Dragon-Four had just struck the Tyranny.
Only two starships remained — and both Ubiqtorate Destroyers decided to make a break for the breach the Dominion Venator had created in the minefield of Base Epsilon Nine.
The Red Dragon and the Slayer were abandoning the now useless line, rushing toward the passage.
In this situation, only the Inexorable would be opposing them.
The interdiction cruisers were quite far away, as was the Dragon-Four. The latter was currently occupied with covering the former from possible attacks from the rear.
And simultaneously, it was picking off the Ubiqtorate starships.
The commander of the Red Dragon had made a major mistake — he led his ship through the space cleared by the Vulture droids.
Now nothing and no one was preventing the Dominion Venator from exacting its justice on the Slayer.
The starship lost its shields from the very first shot, but continued, along with the Red Dragon, to shower the Inexorable and the approaching Void Wanderer with turbolaser fire at the breach in the minefield.
Multiple TIE fighters, interceptors, and TIE Avengers emerged from the hangars of both ships.
They even launched two squadrons of TIE bombers, indicating the determination of the last Ubiqtorate crews to fight to the end.
Well, no one had expected anything less.
It was a pity the Dragon-Four hadn't managed to hit the Slayer sooner — then its air wing wouldn't have been able to leave the Star Destroyer's hangar before the battle started.
Then again, this hardly changed the balance of power.
"Tactical data," Abyss finally unclenched his fingers and stepped away from the railing, focusing on the bridge equipment.
The requested information appeared on one of the auxiliary monitors, showing the projected path of the two enemy Star Destroyers with a dashed line.
Markers appeared, indicating an intersection with the course of the Void Wanderer.
Perfect — forty units and they would be able to come alongside.
"Engines to cruising speed," Abyss ordered, watching Captain Mor shift the Inexorable to avoid coming under the crossfire of the two enemy Star Destroyers.
The commander of the Red Dragon must have thought Alexander had lost his mind, breaking away on a reciprocal course with his pair.
At least, that's what the maneuver looked like.
But in reality...
The Dragon-Four, whose line of fire wasn't obstructed by the Dominion fleet's flagship Star Destroyer, fired a double shot.
The Slayer instantly lost combat effectiveness, continuing its forward movement by inertia, doomed to be nothing more than a silent, slowly dying witness to the coming execution.
Abyss glanced at his subordinates.
A significant portion of the watch crew currently at their stations were the original crew of the Void Wanderer.
Those who had witnessed with their own eyes the Red Dragon firing upon an unarmed transport carrying their relatives.
They were looking at their commander, wondering what decision he would make.
Ruthless vengeance and potentially heavy losses, the possible death of them all, or following the operation plan.
The Grand Admiral had offered them either choice.
Each member of the Void Wanderer's crew was supposed to consider the consequences themselves.
Abyss glanced at the approaching Red Dragon.
He clenched his fists in helpless rage, closed his eyes, and let out a quiet growl.
A choice that would determine the future.
Emotions demanded revenge.
Reason reminded him that even the most brutal killing of an enemy wouldn't bring back his family.
The crew's gazes reminded him that they had followed him in the most difficult moment of their lives.
They had supported his choice because he was their commander.
Because he always had to keep a cool head and not let the personal stand in the way of the common good.
"Send word to the Inexorable that we are sticking to the operation plan," Abyss said with a sigh, looking at his subordinates with a guilty expression.
In some eyes, he saw approval; in others, disgust.
He had chosen to save their lives, at the cost of their respect for him.
They had dreamed of revenge, and he had taken it away from them.
He could stop dreaming of crew cohesion — once this campaign was over, a significant portion of the ship's original crew would request transfers to other vessels.
He had saved their lives, but lost their loyalty.
"I'm sorry," Abyss whispered, looking away and walking toward the main viewport. "I'd rather be a coward in your eyes than let the Red Dragon tear us apart."
He silently watched as a double ion cannon blast disabled the Ubiqtorate fleet's flagship.
He felt as if someone had poured sand under his eyelids.
A hot tear rolled down his cheek...
"Sir, we're being hailed by the Chimaera," he heard the watch officer's voice.
A voice full of irritation and contempt.
"Put them through," Abyss rasped without turning around, pointing to the portable holo-projector near the nearest panel.
The watch officer didn't answer.
But the hologram appeared.
"I've been informed that you refused to engage the Red Dragon in a firefight, Captain Abyss," the Grand Admiral said in a calm tone.
"Yes, sir," he replied.
"Thank you for the right decision, Captain," Thrawn continued. "You made the right choice — you did not subject your crew to the danger of total annihilation for the sake of your own revenge..."
But what was the point?
The last family he had had rejected him.
He might still be their commander, but it would no longer be the cohesive, trusting team it once was.
"You may not understand this right now," Thrawn's voice was louder, but Abyss wasn't interested in the reason why. He stared straight ahead at the drifting bulk of the Red Dragon coasting on inertia, "but the decision not to attack a superior enemy force alone is the only correct one. You can't bring your loved ones back from the grave, and you certainly won't be resurrected if you died yourselves. Your commander made a difficult decision, shouldered the burden of choice that he'll have to live with. Revenge, or preserving your lives in a battle the crew of the Void Wanderer couldn't win. The enemy had an immeasurable advantage in combat training and weaponry. As people of honor, you intended to meet them in fair combat. To take revenge. That is a fundamentally flawed objective..."
Wait, is he talking to the crew?
Abyss quickly wiped away the tears that had welled up and turned toward the "wells."
Miniature holograms of the Grand Admiral glowed above every projector on the bridge.
And the commander of the Void Wanderer was certain the same thing was happening not just on the bridge, but all over the ship.
"The crew of the Red Dragon gunned down your relatives with their cannons when they were unarmed," Thrawn continued. "Defenseless. Helpless. I believe the most fitting course of action would be to do to them exactly what they did to your people..."
"An old heavy freighter just entered the system," the watch officer reported, frowning. "Escorted by two heavy cruisers and screening corvettes..."
"Have the stormtroopers ensure as few members of the Red Dragon's crew are taken prisoner as possible," Thrawn continued. "No one likes fanatics and cutthroats. Shooting the unarmed is a war crime. Executing the executioners without trial or investigation means becoming an executioner yourself. Once all the components have been unloaded from the arriving transport and the ship is empty, the prisoners from the Ubiqtorate flagship must be placed inside. Do with what I've said what you see fit, crew of the Void Wanderer. Do what must be done, and come what may."
The Grand Admiral's holograms vanished, and a dead silence fell over the Void Wanderer's bridge.
The crew members, unsettled by the Grand Admiral's words, looked around hesitantly, exchanging glances.
Abyss fumbled for his comlink on his belt.
"Stormtroopers, prepare to board the Crimson Dawn," he ordered, having perfectly understood what the Grand Admiral had said between the lines. "Do not spare armed opponents."
He signed off and looked at the watch officer.
"Arm anyone who wants to fight, hand out protection," he ordered. "Those who wish to settle scores with the Red Dragon's crew — join the boarding parties. This is your only chance to kill those bastals with your own hands. I won't allow prisoners to be shot. Decide here and now." After a pause, he added:
"First officer, take command of the destroyer. I'm going with the stormtroopers."
* * *
Known as the "Blackhole Stormtroopers" due to their direct subordination to the leader of Imperial Intelligence, this unit of specialized Stormtrooper Corps forces was distinguished by the black color of the traditional gear worn by the Empire's elite soldiers.
But at the same time, it was not typical in its purpose.
Most of those who had ever had the misfortune to encounter these stormtroopers believed the armor's color was due simply to black paint applied over the standard white.
In reality, the armor for the Blackhole stormtroopers was manufactured using an extremely rare and expensive stygian-triprismatic polymer material.
Thanks to this innovation, the enemy had improved stealth parameters. Not to mention that the shadow stormtroopers also carried cloaking devices that rendered them invisible, or at least brought them into a state close to it for short periods by distorting the light around them.
Very valuable and immensely expensive equipment.
Furthermore, in addition to their standard armament — E-11 blaster rifles — the stormtroopers in black also carried DEMP ion pistols and specially designed thermal detonators.
In addition to all that, the enemy possessed such rare and specific weapons as vibro-knuckledusters. In close-quarters combat, the latter was a terrible weapon due to the additional piercing and cutting force provided by the vibration effect.
Judging by the nature of their actions, these fighters had received excellent special training in infiltration and ambush tactics.
A shadow stormtrooper.
All this information flashed through Sergeant TNX-0297's mind as he pulled his combat knife from under the chin of a shadow stormtrooper's helmet.
The enemy, spraying blood from a severed common carotid artery, collapsed in a heap onto the deck.
His hands lay limp on the metal, wrists broken.
The dying shadow stormtrooper didn't even try to beg for mercy or cover the wound.
Using his night vision device and the magnetic grips on his boots, the sergeant surveyed the emergency airlock, which had become a slaughterhouse.
Dozens of shredded Red Dragon stormtroopers killed by the droidekas drifted slowly in zero gravity. The droids' fire was, as always, precise, merciless, and lethal.
The "Shadow" stormtroopers had lain in ambush at the droids' entry point, surviving the first wave of the attack, perfectly aware that living fighters would follow.
Among the dead were many fighters bearing the legion markings of the Void Wanderer — victims of the ambush laid by the stormtroopers in black.
The guardsmen had died with valor — by the time the special forces arrived at the scene, the squad from that legion fighting its way through here had taken out a good dozen "Shadow" stormtroopers.
The remaining eight were killed by the Assault Commandos.
Losing two of their own fighters.
This statistic — two lost on a mission — was starting to bother TNX-0297. It seemed the replacements for his squad weren't as well-trained as he and TNX-0333 were.
A reduction in effectiveness was unacceptable.
He should report this to command.
After the mission was complete.
"Emergency airlock AA-22 is secured," the sergeant reported over the comlink, directly to the commander of the Inexorable Star Destroyer.
"Understood, TNX-0297," Captain Mor acknowledged. "Continue the sweep. Provide support to the stormtroopers and crew of the destroyer Void Wanderer — they're advancing toward the bridge from the opposite direction. They're reporting 'Shadow' stormtroopers."
"Orders received."
The commander of the Fourth Special Operations Squad found the flamethrower operator, TNX-0333, by the marker on his visor. The fighter was applying sealing foam to a pauldron sliced open by a vibro-knuckleduster.
"Moving out."
The flamethrower operator nodded silently in agreement.
They crossed several corridors and passages, eliminating crew members of the Crimson Dawn and stormtroopers whose IFFs didn't match "friendly."
Twice they had to engage in hand-to-hand combat with "Shadow" stormtroopers.
Twice they emerged victorious.
Not without injuries and wounds, but the Assault Commandos, clones of Colonel Selid, performed at their best.
"Hold your fire!" warned a man in a light spacesuit bearing the markings of a ship commander on the comlink frequency common to Dominion forces storming the Star Destroyer, as they met face-to-face at one of the Red Dragon's corridor intersections.
The armor's electronics had already identified the approaching squad as friendly.
"Captain Abyss, Fourth Special Assault Commando Squad here to support," stated Sergeant TNX-0297.
The commander of the Void Wanderer also had two squads of stormtroopers and over a dozen crew members in light spacesuits with him.
The reason the latter were present on the ship being captured was not obvious to the sergeant.
But he wasn't going to ask such questions either.
"There are only two of you, Sergeant," Captain Abyss noted.
"More than enough, sir," declared the commander of the Fourth Special Operations Squad.
The map inside his helmet indicated the bridge's location at the far end of the right branch of the intersection where the squads had met.
"Sir, permission to suggest the fighters in light spacesuits move to the middle of the formation," stated TNX-0297. "We'll take point and organize the breakthrough to the combat bridge."
This would provide the best protection for the less armored team members.
"Do it." Captain Abyss shifted aside, letting the man in the dark-gray medium armor with the closed-cycle breathing system pass.
An Imperial design, an older model.
"I'm an Agent of the Dominion Intelligence Service," the man introduced himself. "I'll go with you."
"As you command, sir," replied TNX-0297, not wanting to argue.
Both Assault Commandos moved forward, their magnetic boots stepping across the metal decks.
They ran into an ambush right at the doors leading to the bridge.
The system didn't react to the moving target, but the sergeant spotted a black hand holding a blaster protruding from a ventilation shaft.
It was a matter of seconds — while the enemy aimed his weapon.
Pushing off the floor, he grabbed the hand, breaking the wrist and preventing the opponent from firing.
The flamethrower operator, understanding his commander's intent, grabbed him by the legs and yanked him down with all his strength.
The "Shadow" stormtrooper fell out, breaking the decorative frame of the ventilation opening.
TNX-0297 managed to seize the blaster and, pressing it against the enemy's helmet visor, pulled the trigger.
In the soundless void, the crimson flash wasn't accompanied by the usual roar.
An uneven entry hole appeared in the left eye socket of the "Shadow" stormtrooper.
Meanwhile, TNX-0333, using the lack of gravity and magnetic grips, climbed up the wall to the ugly hole in the ceiling and shoved the muzzle of his flamethrower into it.
"Disable NVGs!" TNX-0297 warned the others over the comlink just before the flash of flames seared their eyes.
The incendiary mixture, spewed into the ventilation system, melted metal and vaporized any polymers in its path.
The shaft's casing instantly deformed, and molten drops of metal began to drift into the corridor.
With the soundless rupture of thin metal, two burning "Shadow" stormtroopers burst out of the ventilation system, which had turned into a thermonuclear furnace.
The Dominion Agent finished them off with two precise shots.
Something caught his eye that he hadn't noticed immediately.
On the belts of both melting corpses were plasma cutters.
Snatching them away before the fire could ruin the valuable equipment completely, TNX-0297 handed one of them to TNX-0333, who had finished with his flamethrower.
Both Assault Commandos began opening the panels protecting the manual release mechanisms for the bridge's emergency hatch.
"Too slow," the Dominion Agent mumbled, walking up to the commandos and gesturing for them both to step aside. "I don't want Blackhole to get away. I've been looking for him all over this ship."
The sergeant and the flamethrower operator obediently cleared the way for the agent.
He took a small plastoid rucksack off his back and pulled out four portable generators with tiny emitters.
"Place them behind the squad," he ordered.
One look was enough to understand their purpose.
Atmospheric shield projectors.
Portable.
An expensive piece of equipment, designed to prevent an air mixture leak from a compartment for a couple of minutes, ten at most.
Widely unused due to high cost and fragility.
Such generators had to be pre-installed in a passageway, making them unsuitable for emergency use.
And their price was comparable to the cost of acquiring a Corellian corvette.
The Assault Commandos quickly drilled mounting holes in the corners of the corridor, connected the projector ribbons that came with the kit.
And at the agent's signal, activated them.
Simultaneously, a directional plasma mine burned out the locking mechanism of the emergency entrance.
The stormtroopers threw flash-bang grenades inside.
Then the Assault Commandos went to work.
Pushing the door halves aside, both fighters entered, firing paralyzing shots at everyone who came into view.
The bridge always held exclusively important targets.
By the time the Assault Commandos, supported by their fellow stormtroopers, had finished suppressing the resistance of the beings semi-conscious from oxygen deprivation, TNX-0297 already knew for certain that there was no one on the bridge who wasn't part of the combat bridge's watch crew.
The disarmed and thoroughly chilled people were being handcuffed and given portable breathing masks.
The stormtroopers organized the convoy — and there were no volunteers to resist.
Because there was nowhere to get warm on a Star Destroyer deprived even of reserve power sources (something the boarding parties had taken care of first). Any attempt at resistance doomed the rebel to either a blaster bolt to the head or a slow death wandering through the powerless ship.
The twilight of the combat bridge dissipated when the emergency lighting flickered on — repair parties had restored reserve power.
Meaning the ship was under full Dominion control.
The helmet's electronics registered the life support system working.
It wouldn't be enough to "heat" the entire ship, but it was sufficient to add extra oxygen to the frozen compartments.
"Where is he?!" TNX-0297 heard a furious voice.
Turning toward the sound, he saw the Dominion Agent, who had taken off his helmet, grabbing the commander of the Red Dragon by the throat. "Where is Blackhole?!"
The officer laughed, pulling the oxygen mask from his face. With each laugh, puffs of vapor flew from the Imperial's mouth.
Captain Abyss, standing nearby, looked at the officer with hatred.
"Answer, you carrion!" the Dominion Agent yelled into the prisoner's face. "Where is Blackhole!"
"You're just as pathetic as your Grand Admiral," the commander of the Red Dragon laughed. "You came here for Blackhole? Idiots — he was never here. But the data on your attack on Ubiqtorate ships has already been sent from Base Epsilon Nine straight to the one you're looking for. Thrawn's double game is exposed! And the full might of the Empire will fall upon you! You'll all be wallowing in your own guts, begging for forgiveness... Blackhole has won!"
He clenched his teeth in a peculiar way.
The sensitive tech in the helmet heard the crunch of glass.
Foam appeared on the man's lips.
"A poison capsule," TNX-0297 realized.
"Only you won't live to see it," Captain Abyss said unexpectedly. "And you won't leave on your own terms."
A crimson lightning bolt flashed, and a burned hole appeared where the commander of the Red Dragon's nose had been.
The Dominion Agent threw the corpse away from himself in disgust.
"He might have known something valuable," the Dominion Agent said, clenching his fists.
"Then why didn't you, Agent, ensure that such an important prisoner couldn't kill himself with poison?" the commander of the Void Wanderer inquired calmly.
The gray-haired man found nothing to say in response.
TNX-0297 opened a secure communication channel, informing the Supreme Commander of what had happened.
* * *
"This is a failure, Grand Admiral," Captain Pellaeon sighed, having heard, along with me, the report from the commander of the Fourth Special Operations Squad, Sergeant TNX-0297. "Blackhole outsmarted us..."
"That's probably what he thinks," I said, not taking my eyes off the holographic panel.
An empty panel.
"We should abort the mission and return to the Dominion," Gilad declared.
"Don't rush to conclusions, Captain," I advised, activating the holographic galaxy map. "Have you ever been curious about exactly how Agent Blackhole sends his dispatches to Palpatine?"
"The HoloNet," Gilad replied without hesitation. "Delivering data arrays by courier along the same vector... It would attract far more attention than an ordinary encrypted message."
"Considering the methods of Imperial Intelligence, which involve multiple redundancies in transmitting information through various types of HoloNet dispatches, yes, that's the most reliable option," I agreed, using a laser pointer to indicate the Koros sector. "Sector Theta. It's the last of the known galaxy's sectors that juts into the Deep Core. The relay located there is one of the oldest in the galaxy. Fleet specialists during the attack on Coruscant. An impressive structure."
"Forgive me, sir, but I don't understand," Pellaeon admitted.
The holographic projector blinked with an incoming call indicator.
"As you can see, Captain," I said, activating the device, "someone wants to talk to us."
An image of a faceless man appeared above the projecting plate. Just eyes...
"Agent Blackhole," I said with a smile.
"Thrawn," the interlocutor's voice was indeed synthesized. Not the slightest hint of an accent, timbre, or any other characteristic features. "Well, the attack on my base, Epsilon Nine, was the final test of your loyalty. I think your minions have already realized there's nothing of value on the base — I evacuated everything from there in advance, knowing a traitor wouldn't be able to resist attacking such a valuable asset for his own gain. You can be proud you've acquired six more Star Destroyers — my report on your betrayal has already been sent to the Emperor. Soon, the wrath of the Revived Emperor will fall upon you and your Dominion."
Pellaeon grimaced in displeasure.
"Yes, it's been an interesting game," I agreed. "It's a shame Agent Jahan Cross didn't meet you aboard the Red Dragon."
"Another traitor," Blackhole's eyes flashed. "Death awaits you all."
"It comes for everyone, sooner or later," I concluded. "But, you know what distinguishes an unrivaled original from a crude forgery? The futility of trying to pass oneself off as the original. One must possess extraordinary talents and knowledge for such a thing — so that even the smallest details aren't noticed by an attentive observer."
"What are you getting at, Thrawn?" And although there was no emotion in Blackhole's voice, I was more than certain he was intrigued.
"Agent Blackhole has a very interesting biography," I said. "And his manner of communicating with subordinates via hologram and voice modulator — isn't that a perfect opportunity to falsify one's identity? Don't you think so, Captain Pellaeon?"
"Um... Well... Yes," Gilad was flustered.
"More of your mind games, Thrawn. They won't help you!"
"On the contrary," I countered. "They helped me fill in the missing gaps in my information about Blackhole. And I came to the conclusion that such an extraordinary personality as the former head of Imperial Intelligence, who commands an entire fleet of Star Destroyers, would never abandon one of them and his base just to hide from me in the Pentastar Alignment."
"I wasn't hiding, Thrawn. You think far too highly of yourself..."
"Blackhole would never have let the loss of three Star Destroyers slide," I continued. "No, such a man, especially with the Emperor's support behind him, would have arrived at the head of his forces and demanded answers. Of course, if it were the real Blackhole who once terrorized the Empire's population."
The hologram was silent.
Pellaeon was silent too, blinking.
"You know, Republic Intelligence is never shy about claiming, or at least attempting, the destruction of significant Imperial figures," I continued. "For example, the report on the fight against a warlord like Lord Shadowspawn, who founded his base on Mindor just a year after the Empire's defeat at the Battle of Endor, is quite interesting. What's fascinating about this is that, among other things, he had 'Shadow' stormtroopers. Agent Blackhole's personal army. Are you interested in my reasoning, Agent?"
"So far, I've heard nothing but fantasies."
"In that case, you might be interested to know that in the same year, Luke Skywalker defeated Lord Shadowspawn's army. He also dealt with the fake Shadowspawn, and learned from him that the real Shadowspawn was none other than Agent Blackhole. Does nothing refresh your memory, Agent?"
"I am aware that you hacked Republic Intelligence data," the hologram stated. "And what do you intend to tell me with these facts, Thrawn?"
"Oh, this is the most interesting part," I promised. "What drew most of my attention was the fact that Agent Blackhole fought on equal terms with Luke Skywalker. With lightsabers. That is a very specific skill — an inexperienced and unprepared person would surely die from their own lightsaber. But the thing is, Shadowspawn was never an ordinary man. He is as much an adept of the Force as Darth Vader, as Emperor Palpatine."
"You haven't revealed anything new to me, Thrawn," Blackhole stated. "But your tedious speech is boring me."
"No one's asking you to listen to it over a voice channel," I shrugged. "We'll be meeting in person soon enough."
"At your execution," Blackhole promised.
"An execution will certainly happen," I agreed. "But the thing is, I very much doubt that at Base Eidelon, where you evacuated the data from Epsilon Nine, you'll find enough forces to stand against the fighters of the 501st Legion."
"What?!" I couldn't imagine what intonations my interlocutor must have used for the surprise and fury to break through the equipment. "That... can't be!"
"It can, 'Agent Blackhole,'" I confirmed. "You see, evacuating data from Epsilon Nine wasn't the wisest move. But you've always been a greedy, insatiable man. And you couldn't abandon a valuable asset without confirming the information that my agents had been spotted near the relays you were receiving information from. And only after that did you head to Tatooine — sending the destroyers on diversionary missions. The only problem is, no matter where you send your real flagship, I will always know where you are. Just as I know that you're hiding your Star Destroyer in the gravitational shadow of one of the local suns."
"That's... that's impossible," Blackhole's hologram began to shake.
"Well, why not," I shrugged. "You didn't have the flagship of a true Blackhole — the ISD Singularity. But you needed a secret ship. You used your connections to decontaminate the abandoned Imperial Star Destroyer Vector, damaged during an experiment with reanimating the dead. And it was on that ship that you transported all the data from Epsilon Nine. Which proves once again that you're not the real Blackhole — he would have used the Singularity without hesitation and wouldn't have needed a secret stationary base. But you're not Blackhole. You're just a petty, two-faced, cowardly, and envious man who narrowly escaped death and now hides behind a hologram to control the remnants of the real Blackhole's secret empire — including his shadow stormtroopers."
"Regardless, I've fulfilled my duty to the Emperor," declared "Blackhole." "The report on your treason, Thrawn, has already been sent to the Emperor at his secret residence."
"I'm afraid your dispatch won't reach the planet Byss," I said. "As I've said before — the problem with imitators is that they lack information. So you, having taken over the Ubiqtorate, only use a single information channel. Because the rest of the network has either been exposed by the New Republic or is inaccessible to surviving personnel. And as it happens, along with the data from Epsilon Nine, you brought my droids aboard your destroyer and to your base. They're intercepting your outgoing messages, simulating their transmission to the recipients. Thank you — now we have data on all Ubiqtorate facilities you've been in contact with."
"But you miscalculated here, Thrawn," Blackhole stated. "To communicate with the Emperor, I used two communication channels — and a message to him left Epsilon Nine base the moment you attacked. An automated message. I foresaw you'd betray us. But you're no longer needed..."
"There's a hitch there too," I said. "You see... all messages to the Deep Core pass through a relay in the Koros sector. And before beginning the operation to eradicate the Ubiqtorate, I made sure my people were on that relay. No message, no matter what it is, gets past the Koros sector. But this helps us detect and identify the recipients who send reports to Palpatine and into the Deep Core. Quite fascinating and informative memoranda, I must say."
"Fine," "Blackhole" was clearly grinding his teeth. "In that case, I'll report your betrayal myself..."
"There is a certain obstacle to your journey to the Deep Core," I said, feeling the Chimaera leave hyperspace.
"And what might that be?" "Blackhole" clarified.
"The Chimaera, along with the Interdictor-class Star Destroyer Binder, have already entered Tatooine's orbit," I explained. "In a couple of minutes, we'll be over your beloved Eidolon base, my dear interlocutor. And we'll talk in person."
"Contact the Vector!" my interlocutor's hologram didn't change, but apparently he was no longer speaking to me. "What fight? Who are they fighting in the shadow of Tatoo II⁈"
"Eternal Wrath and UNSC In Amber Clad," I said, glancing at Pellaeon, who sat with a dazed look. "They arrived in the Tatoo system simultaneously with our ships."
"This will be your grave," "Blackhole" assured me. "Because I'm calling..."
"You won't be calling anyone anymore, Grand Vizier," I sighed. "Eternal Wrath is blocking all communication channels beyond the Tatoo system. And the basing locations of the destroyers Stalker and Thunder, which escorted the Vector from Epsilon Nine to Tatooine, are also known to me — and Dominion starship detachments have already been sent to them as well. I assure you, I have enough destroyers directed at each of your ships and facilities across the galaxy to finally decapitate Palpatine's eyes and ears in the known galaxy."
Instead of a reply, Blackhole's hologram simply dissolved.
"An unpleasant conversationalist," I stated.
"S-sir," a pale Gilad stammered. "You said that 'Agent Blackhole' is..."
"Your hearing is fine," I nodded. "Why are you surprised, Captain? If Isard managed to clone herself, why wouldn't the most cunning and greedy of Palpatine's allies have done the same? Or from my words, did you not understand that the real Sate Pestage was not executed by Prince-Admiral Delak Krennel?"