“You think this is one of those miscalculations?”
“I am certain of it,” Thrawn said. “And that failure will be costly, both to his task force and to him personally.”
“Wonderful,” Eli muttered. More men and women hurt or killed because of the arrogance of their superiors. “Should we say something?”
“I did say something,” Thrawn reminded him. “I said the situation required more study.”
“So we just let him and the One Oh Third walk into the wall?”
“Admiral Durril has taken a stand,” Thrawn said. “We have offered advice. He has not taken it. We must now stand aside and allow him to test his confidence.”
“I suppose,” Eli said, craning his neck. The images were still flowing across Thrawn’s datapad. “May I ask what you’re doing, sir?”
“Studying Sammuni art,” Thrawn told him. “I need a better sense of the culture.”
They were in sight of the landing platform by the time Thrawn finally put the datapad away. They walked toward their shuttle, and Eli winced with fresh embarrassment at how pathetic their nondescript light freighter looked tucked in among the more impressive Lambda shuttles of the other admirals. He still didn’t know why Thrawn had chosen that particular craft, one they’d taken from their most recently defeated smuggler gang, instead of bringing his own Lambda. Eli’s best guess had been that he’d hoped to show it off as a trophy to the other admirals. Somehow, he’d never gotten around to that.
“You disapprove of my choice of transport, as well.”
Eli glared sideways at him. “Do you have to do that?”
“I find it tends to bypass unnecessary conversation,” Thrawn said, pulling out his comlink. “Admiral Thrawn for Commander Faro.”
“Yes, Admiral,” the Chimaera’s new captain said briskly. “Have we orders, sir?”
“We do, Commander,” Thrawn said. “You are to take the task force to Sammun. There is insurgent activity there that we are tasked with eliminating.”
“Yes, sir,” Faro said, a hint of uncharacteristic uncertainty in her voice. “You say I’m to take the force? You won’t be with us?”
“That is correct,” Thrawn confirmed. “Commander Vanto and I have an errand elsewhere.”
“I see,” Faro said. She was still getting used to being the Chimaera’s captain, Eli knew, and he could tell she wasn’t entirely happy about being thrown into a mission this soon without her admiral there to watch over her shoulder. But her usual self-confidence was already starting to reassert itself. “Very well, Admiral. Any specific instructions?”
“Of course,” Thrawn said. “You will enter the system at a distance and disperse the rest of the task force. You will then bring the Chimaera in close to Sammun and demand surrender of the insurgents. Our intelligence indicates that they are protected from ground or air assault, but their shields and bunkers are unlikely to withstand Star Destroyer turbolasers for long.”
“So I’m to threaten an attack, but the real goal is to drive them out of their positions?”
“Exactly,” Thrawn said. “You may need to fire a few times to persuade them to abandon their stronghold, but you should not have to utterly destroy it. The task force may also need to destroy some of the fleeing ships, but you should be able to capture the majority undamaged.”
“What if they head instead to other locales on the planet itself?”
“I think that unlikely,” Thrawn said. “Their first instinct will be to seek the safety and darkness of space.”
“Understood, sir,” Faro said. She was with the plan now, and Eli had no doubt she would carry it to completion. For all her casual attitude toward proper decorum, she was smart enough and generally knew what she was doing. “If there’s one thing they won’t get out there, it’s safety.”
“Very good, Commander,” Thrawn said. “Before you depart for Sammun, detach the Shyrack for my use. Inform Captain Brento that I’ll speak with her privately once I’ve decided on her course of action.”
“Yes, sir,” Faro said. “Shall I report when I’ve completed my mission, or shall I wait for you to initiate contact?”
“The latter would be best,” Thrawn said. “Good hunting to you.”
“And to you, Admiral.”
Thrawn returned the comlink to his belt. “And now to our errand,” he said.
“Yes, sir,” Eli said. “Ah…are we treading on dangerous ice here, sir? Donassius ordered us to go to Sammun.”
“Not precisely,” Thrawn assured him. “Fleet Admiral Donassius said the Ninety-Sixth was to deal with the insurgency there. No specific mention was made of you or me.”
Eli grimaced. A fine distinction, and one he doubted anyone involved would appreciate. But Thrawn was an admiral, and Eli was a commander, and he’d been given his orders. “Yes, sir,” he said. “May I ask where we’re going?”
“To Batonn, of course,” Thrawn said. “Admiral Durril is convinced he’ll have no difficulty capturing Scrim Island. I am interested in seeing if he is correct.”
—
“Standard siege array,” Vanto murmured. His tone held interest and alertness, but so far he was withholding judgment on Admiral Durril’s tactics. “No obvious response yet from the island.”
“They may be negotiating,” Thrawn pointed out. The ships are indeed set out in a siege array, but it is not precisely standard. Two of the light cruisers are farther out from the Judicator than normal, and Durril has launched no starfighter screen. “We wouldn’t pick up a tight comm signal from here.”
“True,” Vanto agreed. “I keep expecting someone to notice us and order us away.”
“Our transponder identifies us as a properly licensed freighter,” Thrawn reminded him. There is a ping from one of Durril’s screening corvettes. The freighter’s transponder pings back. A moment of hesitation, one final ping, and then the corvette ceases further inquiry. “They no doubt assume we’re waiting to assess the extent of the battle before committing ourselves to resume travel toward the surface.”
“Yes,” Vanto said wryly. “Lucky for us you had the foresight to pick this as our transport.” He raised his eyebrows. “Or was it luck? Did you pull something out of the comm traffic that made you suspect we might need something lower-key than a military Lambda?”
“I had some suspicions,” Thrawn said. Vanto’s insight and perception had grown remarkably over the years. He saw many of the patterns now, quickly grasping the underlying reasons and motivations.
The deeper reasons still sometimes eluded him. But there was time. The young commander’s tactical abilities continued to grow, though Vanto himself was not fully aware of his progress. The focus now would be on improving his observation and training his mind to assemble data and reach conclusions more quickly. In battle, such reflexive decisions often meant the difference between victory and defeat.
There is a series of flashes from the distant task force. “First salvo away,” Vanto announced. “Full turbolasers from the Judicator. Island’s energy shield…looks like it’s holding.”
“Any reduction in strength?”
“Not that these sensors can detect from here,” Vanto said, his forehead furrowed in concentration. “Second salvo away. Third salvo away. Looks like Durril’s got all his ships firing now. Still no response from the insurgents.”
“That will soon change,” Thrawn said. The screening corvettes are now being brought closer to the Star Destroyer as Durril responds to his initial failure to destroy the island’s shield. “By ordering fire from all of his ships, Durril has now demonstrated their full capabilities.”
“And has also close-marked all their positions,” Vanto pointed out. “If the island’s commander is smart, he’ll counterattack before those positions change…and there they go. Shield seems to be contracting—I can see bits of the western and southern shorelines. Durril’s still pounding at the center—”