Nine years, nine months, and thirty-five days after the Battle of Yavin...
Or forty-four years, nine months, and thirty-five days after the Great Resynchronization.
(Five months and twenty days since the Arrival.)
General Bel Iblis stared intently at the tactical hologram, where the numerous markers of the transport ships that had just entered the system — the last group — had almost instantly changed from neutral blue to hostile red.
"And yet, the identification codes are correct," noted the hologram of General Solo, who was also present in the bridge of his brave Corellian compatriot's flagship — the newest Mon Calamari MC80b-class star cruiser, the Truthful.
Previously, this ship had been patrolling another sector, but Bel Iblis had recalled it, along with many other starships, to Coruscant after the Battle of Brentaal IV, and sent it together with Admiral Duplex's ships to Sluis Van "for repairs."
"And yet," the hologram of the said Zeltron objected, "these starships lack our transponders. Not to mention that some are missing."
"Yes, Thrawn intercepted our last transport convoy somewhere, delayed, captured, or killed them, and slipped us ships of the same class from his vast collection of prizes," Bel Iblis explained. "Right now, they'll try to slip through our defenses and mingle with the rest of the transport starships. Once Thrawn attacks, I'm certain these ships will be among the closest to our Imperial-design starships. The timing is perfect — he attacked the Second Fleet's transports directly, which use civilian crews, and some of the GR75s are privately owned. This allowed him to doctor the ships so that if we hadn't figured it out, we would have taken them for our own."
"Docking, boarding, and elimination of duty watches," Han Solo developed the thought. "Then the ships can be pulled outside the perimeter and sent to a holding area for later transfer to the Dominion."
"Elegant, isn't it?" Bel Iblis smiled.
"I don't approve of your optimism, General," Duplex stated. "You're banking too much on the assumption that you've understood our enemy's plan."
"I don't want to sound pessimistic — it's not very Corellian — but I'll second the Admiral," Han said reluctantly. "Thrawn is quite the character. He could have figured it out."
"Don't overestimate him," Bel Iblis declared. "Talented as he is, undeniably, he's still a sentient. He may be a genius, but he's not immune to human error. He will definitely seize the opportunity to take our last Star Destroyers, interdictor cruisers, and heavy cruisers of Imperial manufacture from us, to prove to the entire galaxy how weak we are."
"I don't think his victories have gone to his head so much that he'll suddenly charge into our trap," Duplex stated. "Brentaal, Coruscant, Sarapin, Balmorra — all those operations indicate he's clearly trying to outplay us on our own turf. Turns our own traps against us. What if he brings the Lusankya or his second SSD here?"
"As for the second — I'll allow it; as for the recent prize — unlikely," Bel Iblis declared. "And regarding the trap... Thrawn has never missed an opportunity to fall into our trap or otherwise harm our plans. It's a state bordering on megalomania — he thinks he's smarter than us and strives to prove it to everyone by directly thwarting our plans. I didn't sacrifice so much to give up on the last step. He'll definitely come here. Do you see those ships?" He pointed at the newly arrived freighters. "He perfectly forged the identification data and access codes to get in here. But he failed to account for one thing — that we placed transponders on our ships. Which means — he isn't flawless. No one can be the best at everything and plan operations perfectly. Right now, his buzz droids are transmitting the information we need, direct flights in the system are blocked, which means he won't use his 'superweapon' to destroy our ships."
"We still don't know the capabilities of his small craft bomber," Han Solo stated.
"But we do know that it doesn't make micro-jumps through hyperspace," Bel Iblis stated. "Which means — it's nothing more than afterburner. I think Thrawn is using his old development — the missile boat with which he destroyed Zaarin's forces. At least, the Signus Corporation definitely doesn't have an assembly line for it right now — it was bought out by Moff Ferrus. From the Morshdine sector. And that place clearly served as Thrawn's base until the Dominion was formed. Ferrus was one of the first to openly join the Dominion. And that's a telling gesture."
"Actually, the Dominion itself seems to have grown out of the Morshdine sector," Han Solo said.
"Probably so," Bel Iblis agreed.
"I think we shouldn't allow the enemy to operate so openly at Sluis Van," Admiral Duplex stated. "Since we know these are boarding-carrying starships, it's time to inspect and destroy them."
"That's exactly what we're doing," Bel Iblis declared, pressing several keys on his holoprojector. "If you look at this data," he pointed at several dozen diagrams, "you'll see that the fighters that flew past the arriving freighters scanned them. And requested information about the reason for their delay."
"I don't see anything worth noting," Duplex admitted. "Except that the ships' captains claim they were detained and inspected by Imperial patrols. But we understand that's half-truth."
"General Solo?" the Supreme Commander looked at his compatriot with a smile.
Han, however, understood what was being discussed.
"The manifests, the volume of detected cargo, and the ships' movement characteristics don't match," Solo stated. "According to the documents, they're all loaded to capacity. The commanders say the same — and they're heading for the ships, supposedly to unload weapons and spare parts. But the scans indicate that the cargo holds are only half-filled — two-thirds at most. Cargo along the sides, emptiness in the center. Yet the transports' acceleration and deceleration match the pattern of full loading. And almost all of them are carrying extra transport containers, above the standard... Why carry empty containers if you have space in the hold? And if they're running 'overloaded,' they're far too nimble."
"Concealment fields inside the ships," the Zeltron grimaced. "Thrawn clearly spared no expense in refitting his prizes. Each such installation could cost a fortune."
"He apparently has no money problems, given he can spend it on equipping hundreds of asteroids and hundreds of transports," Bel Iblis agreed. "But this is exactly what we've all been waiting for — confirmation that the arriving starships are 'wrong.' Thrawn understands that we would scan the ships and see the boarding troops on board. So he hid them with a concealment field and thus 'smuggled the troops right under our noses.' I think he placed the cargo along the sides precisely to counter the scanners, so we wouldn't smell a rat. So, the first move is ours, gentlemen — we will capture or destroy these transports. But the boarding parties won't reach our Star Destroyers."
"As if they'd have a chance otherwise," Han Solo snorted.
"And yet, I feel that something is wrong," Admiral Duplex shook his head. "General, sir," he looked at Bel Iblis. "I would advise not destroying the starships, but taking measures to capture them. It's possible we're being led by the nose again."
"That's exactly what I intend to do," Bel Iblis reassured him. "The concealment screens will be useful for us too."
He touched his comlink, tuned to the fleet command frequency, and ordered the nearest ships to move out to intercept the last arriving transport convoy and take measures to capture the starships.
"Do you think we can use this technology against Palpatine?" Han asked.
Aboard his flagship — identical to the one his compatriot commanded — the Corellian felt a certain nervousness.
An operation of a scale no New Republic engagement had ever reached lay ahead.
"The Council will never admit it, but we do believe both Thrawn's words and your wife's arguments that Palpatine — or someone trying to impersonate him — has taken command of the Imperial forces in the Deep Core," Bel Iblis said. "But until Thrawn is destroyed, we won't pass this information down to mid-level commanders."
"Otherwise, chaos would ensue," Duplex confirmed. "If Thrawn is the vanguard, then who comes next? With what forces?"
"Our intelligence is operating in the Core, but so far there's no actionable information," Bel Iblis admitted. "I won't hide it — the lack of confirmed information is somewhat reassuring. We increasingly hope the enemy is misleading us. Even that first SSD that appeared with Thrawn at Soulex could well be Admiral Kiz's Tide, which fled from Anaxis during our operation to capture Coruscant. Thrawn may have attacked him after the retreat, damaged the ship, and has been repairing it all this time."
"There could be any number of scenarios, sir," Admiral Duplex stated.
"Exactly," Bel Iblis agreed. "Without proof, these are nothing more than simple guesses based on the information we have. I hope that after this operation is complete, many questions that were mysteries to us will become clear."
"Sir," the commander of the Verny interrupted his thoughts. "Patrols report they've surrounded the enemy transports. The ship captains are baffled that they're not being allowed to approach the shipyards — they're reminding us about their cargo, their damage, and demanding..."
"That's enough, Captain," Bel Iblis cut him off. "I'll speak with them myself."
He switched the settings on his comlink and, after making sure the transports could hear him clearly, began speaking:
"Attention, transport detachment that arrived last. This is the Supreme Commander of the New Republic Defense Forces, General Garm Bel Iblis. Your plan to capture our ships has been exposed. Shut down your engines and prepare to receive boarding parties. I advise you to lay down your arms and surrender immediately to avoid casualties..."
"Iblis, what the hell are you saying?!" a voice crackled back over the reply. "Who do you think we are, Imps?"
"Guys, they're trying to trick us!"
"Some thanks we get for helping!"
"The Reps want to steal our cargo and ships!"
"You can have a hairy Hutt, but not my baby!"
"Oh, so that's how it is?"
"First they call us for help, and now that the danger's passed, they decide to line us all up against the wall?"
"I'd rather be hauling cargo for the Imperials!"
"Those who agreed to leave with the Dominion crews and sell them your damn turbolasers were the smart ones!"
"What the hell is going on?!"
"Guys, they've just decided to screw us over! They're going to line us all up!"
"What is this nonsense?! I've worked in Second Fleet logistics since its creation!"
"What are they even trying to achieve?!"
"We should have given all our cargo to the Imps rather than deliver it to these ungrateful bastards!"
"Let's get out of here!"
"Damn right! Let's sell this weaponry to the Imperials!"
"Sir," Han Solo's hologram looked wary. "This is starting to look like panic..."
"I order all ships from the so-called 'Second Fleet' logistics service to shut down their reactors and prepare to..." Bel Iblis repeated.
"To hell with them, call me a deserter, but I'm getting out! Six years of loyal service, and now they want to search me?"
"The war is on, so the Supreme Commander is right..."
"To hell with all of them! I've had it! First they skimp on escort, and now they want to frame us as Imps?"
"My reactor is leaking — if I shut it down now, it'll blow when I try to restart it!"
"The Dominion was right to warn us after the search — nobody ever planned to pay us! Look how many ships are in the system, and not a single one at the shipyards!"
"They never intended to repair us either!"
"Or pay us!"
"Serves you right, you smugglers and traders. We're military haulers, we're on salary, so we've got nothing to fear. We'll open our airlocks and let them search all they want."
"Patrols — begin the capture," Bel Iblis ordered, watching as more than half the ships from the arriving transport detachment began maneuvering to leave the system's boundaries.
But the fighters from the patrol ships were faster.
The fleeing starships were already under attack from X-wings, which fired warning shots across their bows — for most, this proved sobering...
"Republic bastards! They've breached my reactor!"
One of the GR-75s, positioned almost in the center of the formation, exploded, turning into a brilliant flash like a supernova.
"Four fighters lost!" the commander of the Verny reported.
"Another transport has exploded!"
"No live fire on the ships!" Bel Iblis roared.
But it was too late.
Two more ships at opposite ends of the transport formation exploded, taking a couple of fighters with them.
And the search turned into a slaughter.
New Republic starfighters, scattering in all directions from the deadly transport ships, suddenly came under fire from those very same medium transports.
"That's for my friend!"
"Oh yeah? You think you can kill us all here?"
"Like hell you will!"
The transports exploded, taking powerful hits from one side, then the other, and nothing could stop it.
Just as nothing could determine the cause, the source of the problem.
Because squadron commanders were insisting, one after another, that they hadn't opened fire first.
"We need to pull our fighters out of the formation immediately!" Bel Iblis ordered, his voice raw with rage.
So that was the plan?
Ships packed with explosives, piloted by suicide crews?
"We're taking fighter losses!"
"Seventy-three craft lost!"
"Twenty-seventh Squadron reports attack by buzz droids!"
"The external containers!" Han Solo suddenly shouted. "Sir! The fire on our ships is coming from them!"
"They're the ones exploding too!" Admiral Duplex reported.
But Bel Iblis had already figured it out.
Operational data reached him, and he watched with his own eyes as hordes of buzz droids emerged from the holds of the medium transports, from the open bays of cargo containers, literally tearing fighter after fighter to pieces, inflicting damage on the New Republic.
Jumping from one ship to another, they swept through everything in their path like locusts ravaging crops, while combat droidekas held onto the ships' hulls with magnetic grapples and provided supporting fire from other containers.
"An old pirate trick," Bel Iblis gasped.
After the campaign to destroy the Separatists ended, a huge amount of their weaponry ended up in the hands of unscrupulous beings.
Pirates disguised as simple merchants had invented a gimmick to bypass patrol scrutiny.
They'd officially purchase droidekas and other battle droids, then fill their holds with them and show them off to inspectors. When it was time to capture a ship, the droidekas, using the magnetic grapples on their limbs, would roll out onto the hull of the pirate vessel.
There, with their own shields and not-insignificant weaponry, they'd instantly turn a pirate ship into a warship bristling with serious firepower.
And now this mayhem was chewing through the patrol forces.
"Seventeen squadrons have been wiped out!"
"Two strike frigates report systems disabled!"
"Buzz droids sighted on the nearest defense station!"
"The reactor on the Republic has exploded!"
Bel Iblis stared at the giant sphere of fire that had appeared where a star cruiser identical to the one he was on had been.
The Republic was the newest ship of its class, but her crew were all battle-hardened veterans.
"Pull the starships back!" Bel Iblis commanded. "Immediately, before the buzz droids finish off every last patrol forc..."
"The Brentaal is out of control!"
"The Chandrillia is on a collision course with the Anaxis!"
"A transport has exploded next to the Denon!"
Reports of yet another star cruiser under attack shattered his expectations.
"How?!" the Corellian exclaimed, looking at the commander of the Verny. "The Sullust is right by the shipyards! Buzz droids couldn't have crossed the entire battlefield that fast!"
"Sir, I'm not talking about the cruiser," the commander of the Verny said. "The planet Sullust is under attack. The Dominion fleet is boarding Imperial-design starships. Not destroyers — light cruisers and escort frigates, old models from the Clone Wars era!"
As if struck by lightning squarely between the eyes, General Bel Iblis suddenly understood: Grand Admiral Thrawn had never intended to stick his head in the noose.
He'd simply decided to take what was easier to put into service, instead of bothering with Star Destroyers — of which he already had plenty.
"Urgent order to the Breme Sector Fleet!" Bel Iblis shouted. "Have them attack the Dominion forces immediately. We're deploying the sector fleet from Sluis Van to assist."
"Sir, it's useless," the commander of the Verny shook his head negatively. "The Breme Sector is cut off from communications. The attack report was the last thing we heard from there."
Bel Iblis clenched his fists, looking at the battlefield.
The "Transport Detachment from the Second Fleet" was almost completely destroyed.
Along with it, over two hundred fighters, fourteen fleet ships, three Golan-II class orbital stations were knocked out, and who knows how many buzz droids were now drifting inertially toward the mass of starships assembled in orbit of Sluis Van.
"Launch observation satellites," he ordered. "Begin repositioning the ships to secure them from the buzz droid threat. Do not let your guard down — this may only be the first round of the entire operation."
"Sir, perhaps we should use the reserves?" Admiral Argentis Duplex inquired.
"Not yet," Bel Iblis cut him off. "Until we have confirmation that Thrawn has committed his entire fleet against Sullust, orders remain unchanged. I won't let him break our ambush with a diversion!"
Han Solo remained silent, but his gaze was more eloquent than any words, no matter how heated.
* * *
As always, the Grand Admiral's quarters were shrouded in semi-darkness.
But this time, the darkness was pushed back by the golden glow of a hologram of the Sluis Van system.
"Allow me to congratulate you, Vice Admiral," Thrawn said, indicating the list of enemy losses. "Your plan with the buzz droids performed to an excellent standard."
Didn't realize we were still at the Academy, Pellaeon's grumbling thoughts remained unvoiced.
"Twenty squadrons of rebel X-wings and other fighters destroyed," Thrawn continued. "Eight star cruisers and six strike frigates lost to the sabotage attacks of the buzz droids and droidekas. Not to mention the ideological undertones of this engagement."
"Eighty-seven medium transports of the Second Fleet, along with their crews, destroyed by the Republicans themselves," Pellaeon stated. "Along with their equipment and cargo."
"We have thirteen medium transports that agreed to switch sides," Thrawn reminded him. "Furthermore, from each of those eighty-seven ships, we removed between a third and half of their cargo of turbolasers and artillery equipment. This will allow us to arm several destroyers of the 'Trio' project. So this part of the operation can be considered a success by all short-term metrics."
Gilad kept his opinion to himself.
Yes, the operation was a success.
Judging by how aggressively the Republicans attacked those starships, they genuinely believed them to be controlled by Dominion forces and intended for a landing.
Considering the radio intercepts from the spy satellites, a simple conclusion could be drawn — the enemy clearly expected this particular detachment to fall into Thrawn's hands. Which was logical — it was the only one traveling without an escort.
But Gilad still berated himself for not insisting on completely unloading the ships of their contents. The equipment on all one hundred GR-75s was enough to arm two or three dozen destroyers, not just a couple. From his point of view, the loss of that equipment was a significant flaw in the plan.
The plan he had developed.
The Second Fleet transport detachment had been intercepted by his Star Destroyers, and the intention was to empty all of them of their cargo and send them to Sluis Van under Imperial pilots to deliver the landing force.
But then Thrawn informed them of an impending trap and tasked Gilad with making adjustments.
And in the end, though they disagreed on whether the entire cargo or just a small portion should reach Karthakk, the changes were made.
The ships were partially unloaded, simulating empty space that was supposedly evidence of a cloaking field and a landing force. Additional containers strapped on were filled with buzz droids collected from across the fleet, along with some droidekas that had been stored in the prison blocks on the Star Destroyers. Packing nearly every empty space with battle droids was a necessity to sufficiently increase the boarding force.
In the previous version of the assault.
Now, nearly two hundred droidekas were almost certainly destroyed.
Well, they were just droids.
Expensive, but droids.
That's what they were created for — to die where there was no need to risk the already limited legions of stormtroopers.
"I wonder what the galaxy's reaction will be when we release the recordings showing the New Republic slaughtering its own transport ships — the ones we detained and searched?" Pellaeon chuckled, momentarily imagining the uproar on the HoloNet.
"Disorientation has been masterfully executed, Vice Admiral," Grand Admiral Thrawn agreed. "What do you make of the movement of the other enemy transport ships after this execution?"
Pellaeon glanced at the remaining New Republic transport starships in the system.
"They're not panicking, sir," he said. "I noticed that too. And I suspect this entire motley collection of transports is not being crewed by ordinary pilots, as assumed."
"Yes. Bel Iblis and the New Republic have, not so long ago, been trying to convince us that all these starships arrived to unload and undergo repairs," Thrawn said meaningfully.
"We do have scan data from the buzz droids or spy droids, don't we?" Pellaeon clarified.
"Yes," Thrawn agreed, bringing up the data on the hologram. "All ships are fully loaded."
Pellaeon studied the holographic movement of the enemy transports for a moment, then pointed to the characteristic formation of Admiral Duplex's star cruisers.
"Zeltron is holding his position. The Imperial-design ships have been moved away from the shipyards, and the transports have been moved closer to them. They should have already begun unloading and repairs. But they haven't done so yet."
"Observant, Vice Admiral," the Supreme Commander of the Dominion acknowledged. "Your thoughts?"
"The ships are indeed loaded, their maneuvering patterns confirm that. But these cargoes are clearly not meant for the shipyards."
"Precisely," Thrawn agreed. "General Garm Bel Iblis has kept this cargo in reserve for us."
"Another part of the trap," Gilad realized.
"Possibly its most significant part," Thrawn commented. "Well, let's not get distracted. The first stage is complete, and now the buzz droids will inflict what damage they can on the enemy, clearing a path for us right up to Argentus's fleet. And the shipyards."
"Another obvious trap," Pellaeon stated. "Bel Iblis is practically inviting us into the heart of his defensive perimeter. Three defensive stations are inactive. We could easily send in interdiction cruisers, deploy gravity wells, and force our ships to jump to the very edge of Sluis Van's natural gravity well."
"What do you think would happen to our forces afterward?" Thrawn asked.
"Bel Iblis's forces would close in on us from all sides and crush us in a 'pincer'," Pellaeon answered with conviction.
"That is precisely what he wants," the Grand Admiral nodded. "Very well, when the time comes, we won't keep him waiting — we'll send the interdiction cruisers. For now, however, I'm interested in how Rear Admiral Dorja's attack on Sullust is progressing. We've taken some losses in light forces recently, so we should ensure the Dominion receives a worthy replacement."
"Dorja is doing excellently, sir," Pellaeon said with a crooked smile. "He's living up to his promotion one hundred percent."
* * *
With his hands clasped behind his back, Rear Admiral Dorja stood on the bridge of the Implacable, which had remained under his direct command after his promotion.
This practice — where a formation commander also serves as the flagship's captain — had its roots deep in the Clone Wars, when there was a shortage of qualified senior officers.
By the Imperial period, this flaw had been almost completely eradicated.
But after Endor, in the crucible of the Imperial Civil War, the necessity had arisen again.
With clones, Thrawn could have easily solved it, but the series of promotions that had fallen upon the formation commanders who had been with the Grand Admiral's fleet from the beginning had been unexpected.
Dorja had already decided to use his own authority to promote the clone of his deceased executive officer to captain, but would do so after the Sullust operation.
For now, despite the anticipation, the news had been unexpected.
And he needed to figure out for himself how well he was handling his newfound responsibilities.
His formation currently included, besides the Implacable, two more Star Destroyers of the same class, the Impartial and the Omnipresent — both Imperator I class — which had once borne Republic identification codes and belonged to the First Division of the Third Fleet of the New Republic Defense Forces.
In addition, two dozen heavy cruisers of the Dreadnaught class, twenty-five Corellian CR90 corvettes, and the interdiction cruiser Oloven, captured by Grand Admiral Thrawn at the Battle of Zonju V.
Three key ships — two Star Destroyers and the interdiction cruiser — had once served the Republic.
And the Republic was now acutely aware of this, deploying four Mon Calamari MC80a-class star cruisers against the attacking Dominion forces.
Of course, all they could see were three Star Destroyers, five Corellian corvettes, and the interdiction cruiser hanging back.
Dorja had not committed the rest of the forces placed under his command by Grand Admiral Thrawn to the battle, prudently using only this small but formidable detachment to lure out all available and combat-ready New Republic ships, showing the enemy only that much.
Hence the Republicans had grown bolder, believing they had the numerical advantage and intending to teach the invaders of their system a lesson.
Meanwhile, the Oloven was deploying its gravity well projectors to lock the system and prevent any "valiant" Republic military ships from escaping.
But he had not come here merely to be satisfied with destroying a few Mon Calamari star cruisers.
Located in the Breme Sector of the Outer Rim, Sullust was one of the largest shipyards in the southern part of the galaxy.
The planet Sullust occupied the fourth orbital position from its namesake star.
Situated on the Rimma Trade Route, in a region known as the Lagging Sectors, this world had a Type II oxygen-bearing atmosphere on its poisonous, scorched surface of various hues, and possessed two moons. While Umnub was merely a lifeless lump of rock, Sullust was a fully habitable world.
With a diameter of over twelve thousand kilometers, Sullust, according to all reference guides, possessed a rather intriguing landscape, featuring mountains, volcanoes, rocky deserts, and caves.
Somewhat reminiscent of Mustafar, Sullust attracted travelers from space with its rivers of magma — which were, in reality, endless, deadly rivers of molten matter covering the entire surface of the planet.
The Sullustans do not live on the planet's surface and don't keep much equipment there — it gets clogged almost immediately with volcanic ash, which is why the world is often called the "planet of volcanoes."
The locals live underground, where a stable system of tunnels connects gardens of edible lichen with pools of drinking water.
This was the location of the headquarters of SoroSuub Corporation, responsible for both the planet's governance and its industry.
Starships, control systems, hyperdrives. Droids, weaponry, astrogation technology — all of this could be found on Sullust.
Or it could be profitably traded for the endless imports of food and water that were constantly needed.
During the reign of the Galactic Empire, numerous bases were built on the planet, and several major cities were blockaded by Imperial forces. The SoroSuub Corporation, which during the time of the Galactic Republic had only been taking steps to influence its own government, gained full control of the planet with the advent of the New Order.
The Corporation declared its full support for the Empire. In exchange for several lucrative contracts with the new government and a promise of a guaranteed business future, SoroSuub took a hardline stance against the Rebel Alliance and its supporters.
This prompted a large number of locals to join the Rebel Alliance, and later, the New Republic, actively participating in its illegal activities to overthrow the Imperial government.
The natives disliked the fact that corporate moguls had seized control of the planet, so they gladly organized various rebel cells. Then they joined the Alliance itself.
It was in this system that the Alliance fleet conducted reconnaissance before striking at Endor.
As a man, Dorja could not help but be astounded by the outrageous hypocrisy of the Sullustans.
They disliked the corporate order, yet they readily accepted all the benefits the corporation provided, while also taking actions aimed at opposing legitimate authority.
Which is exactly what they achieved shortly before the year of the Battle of Yavin IV.
After the Battle of Endor, Sullust was one of the first worlds to officially join the Alliance, and then the New Republic, becoming one of the most influential allies of the Republicans.
The Imperial Remnants, in particular Supreme General Sander Delvardus four years ago, had attempted to conquer Sullust, but were defeated by the local inhabitants and their armed forces, supported by the New Republic.
And now, Sullust in general and the SoroSuub Corporation in particular were busy refitting the light forces of the New Republic.
Those very hundreds of starships — corvettes, frigates, light cruisers — whose hulls glinted in the rays of the local star, protected by a chain of Golan defense stations.
"Enemy ships have come within firing range," the watch officer reported to Dorja. "They're ranging their salvos."
"Has the Oloven deployed its gravity wells?" the Dominion Rear Admiral inquired.
"Yes, sir. Vectors two and eleven."
"Report this information to the rest of the fleet," Dorja ordered. "As soon as the enemy closes to within fifty units — which is the range at which the New Republic's less-than-top-quality turbolasers finally start hitting — let them jump."
"What orders for the boarding formation?" the watch officer asked.
In addition to combat strength, Grand Admiral Thrawn had also given him the transports necessary to accomplish the assigned task.
Two dozen medium transports of the GR-75 model, in whose depths Dominion troops and specialists were packed, ready at any moment to burst aboard enemy starships and capture them for the glory of the Dominion.
"We'll lure the Republicans closer," Dorja declared. "Have half the transports come out behind us. 'Olovain,' activate the third generator — deployment vector three."
Such a large number of unarmed ships (in terms of facing the enemy) would clearly embolden the enemy to make rash moves.
For example — to accelerate in order to not only bombard the warships, but also damage the transports.
That's exactly what happened.
As soon as the ten cargo ships emerged from hyperspace, the enemy star cruisers surged forward, hoping to destroy them first.
Moving in a proper diamond formation, where each star cruiser was a vertex of a flat figure, the enemy starships inexorably approached the mark indicated by the rear admiral.
And a few minutes later, they found themselves caught from both sides by a pair of heavy cruiser squadrons of the Dreadnaught type.
The latter, even though they had taken some damage from the Mon Calamari ships before restoring their energy shields.
And at that very moment, a dozen enemy small craft squadrons were attacked by twenty dozen TIE fighters.
Flitting out of the hangars of the ships that had brought them to the battlefield, Dominion aviation joined the fight, clearly not intending to lose despite their numerical disadvantage.
"Destroyers — full speed ahead," Dorja ordered. "'Olovain,' retract the trawl on vector three and shift to sector one. All transports and corvettes of the second group — jump on vector one."
Having surrounded the four Mon Calamari star cruisers in a wide semicircle, which fell under the crossfire of twenty-three Dominion capital ships, Rear Admiral Dorja couldn't suppress a smile when the communicators reported panic among the workers at the "mothball yard" for repaired Republican light-class starships.
Chattering in their barely intelligible language, the Sullustans frantically reported to anyone within the planet's reach that, right in the middle of the formation of repaired Republican starships, having breached the interdiction perimeter of orbital defense stations, fished out of a micro-jump by the gravity trawl of the 'Olovain,' two dozen Dominion transport ships had appeared, instantly scattering numerous Droch-class boarding ships in all directions.
Covered by two dozen Corellian corvettes that had turned multiple enemy fighters into debris fields, the CR90s cut through the SoroSuub shipyards like a fiery sword, sweeping aside any attempts at resistance.
Having caught the corporation off-guard with his daring raid, Rear Admiral Dorja contentedly squared his shoulders.
The operations coordinator for boarding parties was already reporting to him how unprepared the skeleton crews of the Republican starships were in the face of an overwhelming force in the form of Dominion shock troopers boarding them.
The path for whom was paved by relentless and unstoppable droidekas.
Spies reported that SoroSuub starships were already moving out from Sullust's orbit to engage his forces.
But that had been accounted for as well.
In the time it would take the sluggish starships currently in the system to reach his ships, Dorja would have time to accomplish, at least twice, what Grand Admiral Thrawn had sent him here to do.
Not to mention that surprises were in store for them as well.
"Enemy small craft are engaged in battle, Rear Admiral," the watch officer reported.
"Excellent. Order the bomber squadrons to launch. Destroy enemy starships. First strike — on defense systems and engines. Then, at their discretion."
"Aye, sir!"
"Order the pair of Scimitars to strike at the enemy reinforcements. Attack — from the rear," most ships are completely unprotected from the stern, so both Scimitars would face no threat at all. "Make them regret that they repair our enemy's starships."
The Relentless selected the lead Mon Calamari star cruiser as its target, engaging it in a duel on opposing courses.
The enemy ship's commander clearly accepted the unspoken challenge and focused all the power and fury his gunners could muster on the flagship star destroyer.
Excellent.
The enemy, with that same sense of stupidity, charged forward, perfectly satisfied that the artillery of the "One" was unable to penetrate his augmented SEAL deflector shield.
And the other two cruisers, with which the Impartial and the Omnipresent were dueling, adhered to the same standard tactics.
The last star cruiser was literally drowning in an ocean of fire that the Dominion heavy cruisers had unleashed upon it, but it clung desperately to its attempt to withstand the bombardment, drawing the starships closer to its orbital defense stations.
As if that wasn't exactly what Dorja needed.
"Monitor the intensity of the enemy's fire," he said, addressing the officer controlling the Dominion star destroyer's deflectors. "Reduce it after massive hits by cutting power from the SEAL generators. On my command, be ready to restore shield strength."
Meanwhile, the bomber squadrons, having reached their targets, met fierce resistance from enemy gunners and a few New Republic starfighters that had strayed nearby.
Suffering certain losses, the Dominion pilots broke through the fiery maelstrom of the star cruiser gunners' cannons, after which the X-wings that had latched onto their tails were distracted by a fight with a half-squadron of TIE interceptors that had been recalled by the KDP from the general small craft engagement to counter enemy aviation.
"On vectors two and eleven, three enemy squadrons each are approaching," a warning came from the right pit.
"Pilots — general attention," Dorja ordered. "Free formations — break off combat, prepare to repel the attack on those vectors."
Reinforcements were coming to the enemy's aid — aviation from the orbital defense stations.
"Scimitars report they've engaged two Mark II strike frigates," the watch officer reported. "Confirmed destruction of one ship and disabling of the second."
"Their next target — the nearest Golan-type stations," Dorja ordered.
"Order relayed. Rotation — one minute."
A series of detonations ran along the "spine" of the farthest of the four star cruisers — a squadron of TIE bombers from the Relentless had bombed perfectly, tearing open the upper decks.
Judging by the energy with which the enemy starship began to turn and settle on a reverse course — it no longer had the advantage of the SEAL system.
Exactly what Dorja had been aiming for.
"All heavy cruisers — fire all weapons at the damaged MC80a," he ordered.
The Dreadnaughts continued to spew fire at the designated target, flooding the Mon Calamari creation from bow to stern with flashes of turbolaser impacts.
The starship's hull blackened, in places yielding to the onslaught of green plasma and breaching the ship's integrity.
The "field" plowed up by the bombers was subjected to relentless bombardment from the heavy cruisers.
Internal damage worsened with each new accurate hit.
Bulkheads melted and collapsed, decks buckled, and equipment simply vaporized.
A huge cloud of debris was already surrounding the doomed ship when two flashes lit up space — two other squadrons had carried out their combat orders.
But unlike the bomber pilots from the Relentless, those guys had made more precise drops.
The stern sections of both MC80as, after the hurricane of proton torpedoes, most resembled charred pieces of rotten stumps.
Their engines and defense systems, stripped clean, left the ships open to strikes from the Omnipresent and the Impartial.
The enemy of the Relentless, realizing he was alone and clearly wouldn't be allowed to escape the encirclement, decided to break through.
The ship's commander, clearly on the verge of euphoria that his subordinates had managed to bring the star destroyer's shield down to just ten percent, decided he had caught luck by the tail.
"Both stations have sustained significant damage," the watch officer reported. "They are disabled, ejecting escape pods and vehicles into space."
"Evacuating," Dorja said with satisfaction, observing the three destroyers' squadrons, having destroyed the remains of the enemy star cruiser's aviation, deploying to counter the reinforcements. "Transmit to the captured ships — begin moving. A safe corridor has been laid out. Destroy all starships that cannot be captured and taken with us."
The stations positioned in orbit allowed them to cover each other's sectors with turbolaser and missile launcher fire.
But disabled, they couldn't even take care of themselves, let alone save the New Republic's starships from being stolen.
Over two hundred ships — Corellian corvettes, escort frigates, light Arquitens-class cruisers, Marauder-class corvettes, Consular-class, and other rarities that the enemy had restored and modernized for waging war against the Dominion — would serve the Dominion itself.
At the very least for patrolling the core worlds and showing the flag.
But the enemy still had hundreds and hundreds of ships fit for further service.
The artillery of the captured ships, crewed by the bare minimum, could not properly damage that fleet.
"Enemy fleet is at fourteen hundred units from the Relentless," the watch officer informed Dorja.
"Signal the Impartial and the Omnipresent to move for a breakthrough, to cover our new ships with fire supported by TIE fighters," he ordered.
The two destroyers' own air wings were currently engaged in a deadly fight with the aviation of the damaged stations.
"Sir, shields have dropped to seven percent."
"Enemy is twenty units from us and closing fast."
"His shields are at thirteen percent."
"Excellent," Dorja declared. "Engage SEAL, restore shields. Fire on the enemy's bow section. Our bombers — strike that ship."
How long can an ordinary star cruiser withstand the concentrated fire of the "One"?
Long enough — if its deflector shield and power feed systems haven't been heavily bombarded up to that point.
For a moment, when the Relentless's shields began to swell with new energy, the gunners of the flagship star cruiser fell silent, trying to figure out what had just happened.
That was enough for the bomber pilots to dump their entire load of proton torpedoes onto the ship, finally tearing off its energy shroud and destroying the blisters of the gun emplacements.
Helpless and scorched, the ship tried to maneuver, but was too close to the star destroyer, which had no intention of letting new prey slip from its claws so easily.
Plasma tore metal to shreds, leaving it in a vacuum as hardening droplets of molten substance.
The starship turned its stern to the Relentless, allowing them to shoot its engines under range conditions.
When the enemy could no longer move except by inertia, the TIE bombers struck again.
The flagship exploded, vaporizing along with its entire crew.
By that time, the captured starships, under convoy of heavy cruisers, had already left the protected perimeter, and the interceptors had dealt with their targets.
The Relentless was finishing off the enemy star cruisers, while the Impartial and the Omnipresent, supported by fleet corvettes, aviation, and physics, were destroying warships.
Most of these were extremely ancient starships, fit only for guard duty and brought back from oblivion merely for numbers and to replace proper starships on the battlefield.
A pair of Scimitars was returning from its fifth raid into the rear of the Sullustan grouping.
Damaged but not destroyed, the enemy small craft could no longer do anything — the enemy had launched all the aviation they had on hand.
Starships were burning at the shipyards and in the "mothball yard," and the huge "herd," guarded by Dominion heavy cruisers and corvettes, was already approaching the jump point out of the system.
The Relentless, Impartial, and Omnipresent closed the formation, allowing the Olovain to hide in its very center.
Leaving behind only pain, horror, fear of the future, and the certainty that no one could protect them anymore, Rear Admiral Dorja's squadron departed the Sullust star system.
And the first starships arrived at the scene of the slaughter only a significant time later.
Only to begin rescuing the crews of the orbital defense stations.
The attack on Sullust was learned of on Coruscant only a few hours later.
But by then, a simple transport ship, which had remained near the sector relay from the start of Dorja's attack, using a masking screen on hybidium to block all signal transmission both to and from the communication device, had long since vanished into the vastness of the regional hyperspace routes.
As had Admiral Dorja's squadron itself, along with its enormous train of trophies.
The New Republic didn't know it yet, but the attack on Sullust would soon come back to haunt them.
And very loudly.
And very painfully.
But that would come later.
For now, Grand Admiral Thrawn, sitting in the semi-darkness of his quarters, was merely preparing to move to the next step.