In the space beyond Etti IV, the star destroyer Tenacious was being squeezed between the broadsides of the Mon Cal cruisers Mon Remora and Mon Maria, while at the same time to interdictor cruiser Constrainer was barely holding back attacks from Mon Delindo as it began its creeping retreat toward the planet. Admiral Burke had just ordered Emancipator to enter the fray and finish the drag ship off for good.
All in all, it should have been an encouraging scene, but it felt like they were losing. Somehow, Grand Admiral Makati had anticipated their coming and sent Constrainer and Tenacious to pull them out of hyperspace before they reached Etti IV's orbit, while at the same time dropping his own Steadfast directly into the planet's atmosphere over the estate where Councilors Fey'lya and Organa were holding their secret meeting.
Combined with the fact that Admiral Drayson had heard nothing from Alpha Black for days, it all pointed to some massive intelligence failure for which he was in some way responsible. He, Burke, and Dey'rylan had gambled that they could outwit Isard and Makati. They'd lost, and now the whole Republic might pay the price.
And, just to make a terrible situation worse, he'd received a report shortly before leaving Quermia saying that the super star destroyer Vengeance, recovered by Isard after Inquisitor Jerec's death, had left the Bilbringi shipyards for an unknown destination. There was no way to know where it was going, but the simple fact filled Drayson with a gnawing dread.
As he and Willham Burke stood on Emancipator's bridge, watching the glow of Constrainer's engines grow closer bit-by-bit, Drayson leaned close to the other admiral and asked, "Any word from your old friend?"
"Nothing yet." He couldn't hide his scowl.
"How long ago did you send the signal?"
"As soon as we left hyperspace."
Drayson generally wasn't the type to say 'I told you so,' and he certainly didn't feel like doing it now. Instead he said, "What about our advance fighter team? Are they through?"
"Swift and Surprise are almost at the planet," Burke said, naming the destroyer's two fast A-wing squadrons.
"What about the Rouges and Banthas?"
"The X-wings are staying with the assault shuttles. They'll catch up when they can. I'm hoping the A-wings can tear a good hole through Makati's fighter wing before we try an extraction. TIE's can't maneuver worth a damn in atmo-sphere, so we'll have an extra advantage."
Burke was a former snubfighter pilot, and he knew the capabilities of those little ships. "Do you really think they can extract the councilors without more cover?"
"No," Burke scowled. "But once we get close enough I'm taking Emancipator into the atmosphere to fight it out with Makati."
"Those Mon Cal ships are going to be stuck in space." It was probably why Makati had dropped Steadfast into the atmosphere in the first place. That and the fact that a mile-long Impstar literally falling on top of you would scare anything witless.
"The Mon Cals can fire down from orbit," said Burke. "It won't be exact, but they can still give us suppression fire."
Constrainer was still tantalizingly outside firing range, and Etti IV further away than that. Drayson said, "It comes down to how long the councilors can hold on the ground, doesn't it?"
Burke nodded grimly.
That, and how long they had before Vengeance arrived. Drayson knew it, Burke knew it, but neither of them dared say it. Even admirals of the New Republic could believe in jinxes.
-{}-
From the bridge of Steadfast, the rolling grassy hills and distant snow-capped mountains of Etti IV's southern continent stretched placidly outward in all directions. TIE fighters and A-wings weaved through the clouds, dueling with blasts of green and red lasers, but they seemed like tiny flitgnats against the landscape and the massive star destroyer that hung immovable directly above Riga Lanchenzoor's estate.
Makati was disappointed but unsurprised to find that Lanchenzoor had installed a military-grade energy shield that, when activated, effectively protected her complex from Steadfast's dorsal turbolaser cannons. Thankfully, he had other resources at his disposal. While the TIEs kept the A-wings occupied, Steadfast launched a trio of heavy drop ships from its main landing bay. They didn't have far to fall; the drop ships diverged as soon as they left Steadfast and within three standard minutes each had landed at an equidistant target zone outside the shield umbrella.
From there, each drop ship began unloading its supply of AT-AT and AT-ST walkers, and for good measure, scout-mounted speeder bikes. Each of the three landing parties formed a separate phalanx and began advancing on the estate complex. Their ground-level attack would slip beneath the shield umbrella, and Makati knew the heavy assault vehicles would make short work of the automated anti-personnel turrets that had risen from the ground to defend Lanchenzoor and the rebel leaders.
Makati was confident enough of taking the estate; the hard part would be escaping with the rebel prisoners. On Steadfast's bridge, he watched the battle outside Etti IV's orbit play out on the tactical holo. After they'd effectively dragged the enemy fleet out of hyperspace a safe distance from Etti IV, Constrainer and Tenacious has found themselves outnumbered and overwhelmed by Rebel ships desperate to get past them to the planet. Grant had ordered both his ships to begin a gradual fall-back toward Etti IV, since the enemy would be moving in that direction anyway, but he hadn't anticipated the ferocity of the Rebel attack. Their captive star destroyer was closing in on battered Constrainer and would soon destroy it. Tenacious was attempting to fall back to the planet but was being trapped by a pair of Mon Cal cruisers. And Grand Admiral Grant had still not arrived.
Mouth dry, Makati asked, "How much longer until Accuser can start firing on Constrainer?"
It took Captain Vivant a moment to reply, maybe because he's forgotten the original name of the destroyer the Rebels had stolen. "They'll be within firing range in three minutes."
Not enough time. Makati examined the holo again. At their current distance from the planet, a mini-jump through hyperspace would be dangerous for the Rebels. Whether that interdictor kept its gravwells up or not, the enemy could only safely approach Etti IV at sublight speeds.
"Tell Constrainer to lower her gravity wells and fall back from the battle zone," Makati ordered. There was no point in wasting that ship and its crew.
The tactical crew didn't hesitate to relay that order. As the communications officer called up Constrainer's bridge, Makati added, "Lieutenant, tell the crew 'Well done.'"
The officer relayed the news, but Makati turned his attention back to the holo. While he wanted that ship and its crew to flee safely, a part of him also knew that the longer the Rebels were delayed fighting away from Etti IV, the longer he would have to retrieve the enemy leaders below. Nonetheless, he breathed a sigh of relief as Constrainer started to run, and the enemy did not pursue.
"Admiral, the Mon Cals are falling back from Tenacious," Vivant pointed out.
Makati nodded as he watched it one the holo. The captured Accuser, all three Mon Cal cruisers, and all the Rebel support ships were all vectoring straight for Etti IV.
"They'll be on us now, sir," Vivant breathed. "What are your orders?"
"For us, Captain? We hold, right where we are. Continue the bombardment of Lanchenzoor's shields; we just might get lucky and break through. As for Tenacious..." He considered, then said, "Tell Tenacious to come to Etti IV. Have Captain Morvinian join us in our current location."
"You mean an atmospheric insertion? Sir, with the damage Tenacious has taken, the air pressure might create problems with hull integrity."
"Then make sure Morvinian runs proper checks. But tell him to join us in the atmosphere if he can. He'll stand a better chance of making it through this fight if he puts as much distance between himself and those Mon Cals as he can."
"Understood, sir."
As Vivant turned to relay the order, Makati looked once more at the placid cloudscape hovering over Etti IV's fields. He hadn't wanted to tell the captain that he thought they might need Tenacious to stay alive. The Rebels would surely bring their captured destroyer into the atmosphere as well, and it could very well prove an even match with Steadfast. Their larger fighter wings from the cruisers in orbit might well prove enough top tip the scales in their favor, and he needed Tenacious to tip them back in the Empire's direction for as long as the battered destroyer could hold out. He didn't relish the thought of sacrificing Captain Morvinian's ship, but for the success of this mission, it just might be necessary
He watched on the holo as all the ships in orbit, friends and enemies alike, started plunging toward one point on Etti IV's surface. The only things left to do now was wait for Grant to come and write the end of this fight.
-{}-
As she peered through the macrobinoculars, Leia Organa felt a chill run down her spine. The star destroyer overhead had cast the entire Lanchenzoor estate in shadow, but the fields beyond were aglow with afternoon sunlight that slanted in the faces of two giant AT-AT walkers slipping beneath the rim of the shield umbrella and marching inexorable toward her position. The automated defensive cannons built into the estate grounds had never been designed to take on such mighty enemies, and they wouldn't last long once they came within reach of the AT-AT's laser cannons. And with the defensive towers gone, those trapped on the ground would be slaughtered.
It was like Hoth all over again.
"Princess!" a voice called behind her. "Princess, over here!"
Leia dropped the macobinoculars and looked behind her. Mokka Falanthas was waving one hand, coaxing her toward the open door of the building behind them.
There was nothing she could do about the AT-ATs. Leia followed the Iktotchi diplomat and tried very, very hard not to look at the star destroyer's hull that had replaced the sky above them. When she ducked inside the building she felt grateful to have something else over her head. From the outside it looked like a squat one-storey thing with small windows placed along the ceiling, and the inside looked like a half-empty storage room.
Viceprex Lanchenzoor, flanked by her twin bodyguards, was leading the rest of the delegation team to the opposite corner of the room. Once Leia was inside, Falanthas pulled the door shut and slammed down its heavy locking bars.
"Do you really think we can hide in here?" Leia asked as she jogged across the room. "Those walls aren't bunker-thick."
"They don't have to be," said Viceprex Malor'dacan as he stood at Lanchenzoor's shoulder. The human woman finished plugging her code into the keypad on the wall, and a moment later a portion of the permacrete slid away to reveal a set of stairs riding downward into the dark.
"Can that get us off the estate grounds?" asked Viceprex Dright.
Lanchenzoor shook her head. "I have tunnels connecting major parts of the estate. There's a security station at the center of the network where we can keep track of the Imperials' advance."
"Lovely, we can watch our imminent deaths," Fey'lya said. "What else?"
"We can reach the hangar also. I have ships that are fast and armed and can get us out of here."
"That doesn't do us any good so long as the shield is in place," Dright pointed out.
"That shield is the only thing keeping us from being vaporized," Malor'dacan reminded him.
"I wouldn't be sure about that." Dright glanced at the rebel councilors.
Leia didn't need her weak Force abilities to know what he was thinking. "Makati might want us alive, but what he wants with us isn't going to be pretty. It won't be pretty for any of you either."
Dright reply was cut off by a shuddering explosion. Lanchenzoor said, "There goes the first tower. It won't be long now."
"Then I humbly suggest we all get down the stairs immediately," said Falanthas.
"Agreed," said Fey'lya as his fur stood on end. "Viceprex, please lead the way."
Lanchenzoor went down the narrow stairwell first, followed by Go'thal and Fey'lya. Falanthas, Im'nel, and Brei'lya followed, then Malor'dacan. Leia and Winter followed, while Dright and Lanchenzoor's two bodyguards brought up the rear along with Fey'lya's protocol unit. The shuffling droid was slowing them down and might need to be left behind; it made Leia glad she hadn't brought Threepio.
As they started hurrying through the dark tunnels, Leia had to grab hold of her long dress just to keep from tripping over its muddied white edges. When she spotted Winter doing the same, she laughed against herself.
"If only the Imps had let us change clothes first," he said.
"If only," Winter replied. She clearly didn't see the humor in the situation.
"I'm used to talking in fancy clothes and fighting in normal ones. I'm not used to mixing it up."
"Quite," said Winter, and Leia doubted she'd get anything else beyond a couple words and an angry frown.
The tunnel shook again, and the light flickered. For a second, they were all plunged in utter blackness; then light came back on again.
"What happened?" asked Brei'lya. "Have they breached the estate?"
"They just hit another cannon," said Lanchenzoor. "When they're all the way in, you'll know."
They barely made it ten more meters before the tunnel shook again, worse than before. The lights shuddered, then went off entirely. Lanchenzoor called for her bodyguards to bring their lights. One slipped past Leia and Winter whole the other stayed in the rear Dright.
"Now are we fully breached?" asked Bre'lya testily.
"We'll know once we get to the security center," the Viceprex replied. "It's only a few more-"
The tunnel shook and duracrete tore. Leia heard the rumbling behind her and threw herself forward, grabbing Winter around the waist and pulling both of them ahead as the tunnel started collapsing behind them. She heard the awful thunder of more duracrete cracking and felt chunks of dirt pound on her head and back. The light from the Espo behind her went out.
She and Winter stumbled to their feet once the shaking stop. The guard up front swung his light around. Leia and Winter cast long shadows on the rubble clogging the tunnel behind them. She saw the forearm of that protocol droid laying at her feet, battered and broken off from a body that had surely been crushed.
"What happened to Viceprex Dright?" asked Fey'lya.
"He's gone," Falanthas called back. "Him and the guard. They're just… gone."
Winter grasped her friend's arm and whispered, "Leia, can you..."
Leia shook her head, dumbfounded. She felt nothing in the Force behind her. She didn't know what that meant. Maybe she was just too panicked. She wasn't a Jedi like her brother; she barely understood her own power at all. All she knew was that she couldn't feel anyone alive in the debris.
Winter tugged her arm again, and she realized that every-one else was already moving forward. Leia hurried after them. As she sidled along Winter, she whispered, "Do you think we can trust them?"
"The Viceprexes?" Winter whispered back, eyeing Malor'dacan's head-tails as they bobbed and swayed ahead of her.
"Makati must have found out we were here somehow."
Winter looked away. The only light in the tunnel was at the head of the column and it was impossible to read her expression.
"I just don't know who we can trust," Leia whispered.
"Trust doesn't matter," said Winter. "Right now, we have to take what we can get."
She was right, as usual. The tunnel shook again but didn't break. They hurried on through the dark.
-{}-
As six X-wing fighters dove through the wispy white clouds, Hobbie Klivian tried very, very hard to keep his mind off the two men they'd left behind. He couldn't help thinking of it that way, even though by all logic it was Wedge and Fel who's left them behind, for a reason none of them knew but could all guess at
"Hey Hobbie, see that?" called Janson. There didn't seem a point in sticking to callsigns anymore.
"See what?" Hobbie glanced at his scanners. At the moment, all he could see with his eyes were clouds whipping past his cockpit.
"Dozen squints, about five klicks ahead."
"I was kind of hoping Swift and Surprise Squads would've cleared them out," muttered Feylis.
"Let them come," said Xarcce. "I am in a fighting mood."
She sounded more resolved than confused. Hobbie tried to follow her lead, even though still really wished Wedge were here, not to mention Fel and Tycho, or Plourr, or Luke Skywalker. And, while he was at it, Ibtisam and Dllr and Herian and Elscol and all the rest.
But enough. The clouds cleared away and a blue-white sky filled his vision. Far in the distance, the dark daggers of twelve TIE Interceptors were turning to meet them. Far beyond that was a sight that made Hobbie suck in anxious breath: one Imperial-class star destroyer, almost as pale as the sky, casting a wedge-shaped shadow over what looked like a small village as it raining green turbolaser blasts on the shield dome below.
Somehow, those things never looked so big in space.
"Squints are coming to engage," warned Nrin. "It'll be two-to-one."
"Odds sound good to me," Janson said, "Unless they're wearing red stripes."
"We'll find out soon enough," said Hobbie. "Arm your torps, people. Lock targets and get ready to launch."
The TIEs were wheeling around to come at their flanks, but Hobbie was about to lock onto one of them. His targeting lock held firm even as the fighter came around at an angle. He called, "All ships, on my mark, then break. One. Two. Three. Mark!"
The six X-wings launched their torps and scattered. Tangled thrust-trails weaved through the atmosphere toward their targets. TIE Interceptors were much more agile in atmosphere than standard Imperial fighters but they still couldn't outmaneuver a set of torpedoes. As he spun around toward the nearest TIE, Hobbie spotted firebursts in the corner of his vision and saw broken bodies of TIE fighters trailing black smoke as they fell toward the fields below.
He set his laser to quad-linked shots and sent repeated volleys of red laser blasts at the nearest TIE. He managed to clip it and send it spiraling, but any celebration was cut off by the battered his shields were taking as another TIE tore down on him.
"On it, Lead," called Nrin. "Pull up!"
Hobbie did what he was told, just in time to see Nrin's X-wing barreling nose-first toward his. He swerved up just in time for Nrin's fighter to give his pursuer a face-full of laser-blasts. As Nrin's X-wing tore through the explosion and tumbling shrapnel, Hobbie leveled out his X-wing. It had been a while since he'd flown in atmosphere and he'd forgotten what strong gravity did to your body when making those kinds of manuevers.
"Lead, Nrin, two from above!" called Janson.
Hobbie swore and looked at the cloud-streaked sky above his cockpit. He couldn't see anything but apparently Nrin could; the Quarren called, "Break right, Lead!" and once more Hobbie did as he was told.
A torrent of green plasma plunged through the space where he'd just been. The TIEs that fired it plunged through a second after. As Hobbie and Nrin formed up on each other's wings, Janson and Feylis took to pursuit. The latter popped off a torpedo that caught one squint in a fireball; the other veered away sharply.
"That one's mine," Hobbie called, and dove right after it. He knew he should be saving his torpedos but he didn't want to mess with lasers right now. He got his lock and fired his warhead. The TIE tried to spin and evade, and in space it was exactly the kind of maneuver that might have foiled a torpedo lock, but they were in atmosphere, with gravity tugging them down. The explosion sent in tumbling through a low layer of clouds and into the ground below.
"Are we clear?" Hobbie called as his scanners showed empty of hostiles.
"We're clear, Hobbie," Janson said.
"Anyone spot red stripes?" asked Avan.
"They were not flying good enough for that," Xarcce commented.
"Agreed. Those squints were naked, boss," said Feylis.
"Naked Imps. Just the way I like 'em," said Janson. "Okay, Hobbie, what now?"
Hobbie swung his nose around to the distant intimidating bulk of Steadfast. Despite the shadow it cast, he could make out the AT-ATs approaching the estate with his naked eye. "What do you think? Let's crack open some walkers."
"Lead, we've got company!" warned Nrin.
Hobbie scanned the skies for darting dark TIE fighters, and it took him an extra second to see the obvious. A second pale star destroyer was breaking through the scattered clouds on the opposite side of Steadfast.
The sight made Hobbie's gut fall into his chest. "Oh," he said, "Oh nuts."
"Hold on, boss, check your scanners," Feylis said. "That's Emancipator!"
"Looks like she's launching more fighters," added Avan.
"Well I take back my pessimism," Hobbie said. "All Rouges, full ahead for Emancipator. Let's rescue our people."
-{}-
All things considered, the auxiliary communications relay in the aft section of J-deck on the star destroyer Steadfast was a pretty good place to keep track of the Battle of Etti IV. The comm node also allowed Reyan Dey'rylan to slice into the flagship's exterior sensor network as well as its internal holo-cam system. Best of all, there was nobody to bother him. The comm relay was little more than a dark closet tucked away at the confluence of two maintenance shafts, and with the fight Steadfast was in the middle of, nobody was bothering to run any maintenance checks.
It was, therefore, the perfect place for a couple of Bothan spies to squeeze together in the dark, faces lit up only by the reflected light of the room's three viewscreens. Dey'rylan had one feed plugged into each screen, and he couldn't keep himself from patching into the security system to scan for Grand Admiral Makati. After checking his personal quarters and finding only that old protocol droid standing unassuming in a corner, he checked the bridge and found the man in his white uniform, pacing the deck, gesturing and giving sound-less orders. It was strangely captivating to watch.
"You ever wonder if this is what it was like for Sheer?" Kasck asked in a low whisper.
Dey'rylan tore his attention from Makati and glanced at the other Bothan. He didn't have a good answer. He'd been trying very hard not to think about Sheer Valeen, or Koth Melan, or any of the other people he'd known who'd already given their lives to kill the Empire.
In the end, all he managed in reply was a grunt.
"Maybe, maybe not," Kasck continued, "But I kind of hope it was. For her sake. She'd have gotten a nice view of everything outside Aggressor. She'd have known how it was going to end, when the time came."
If the end was going to come for them, they'd know it, though Dey'rylan didn't expect them to be blown out of the sky any time soon. In placing himself exactly above the Lanchenzoor estate, Makati had accomplished a lot of things at once. He'd laid seige over the place in the most intimidating way possible, he'd distanced himself from the Mon Cal cruisers in orbit, and, perhaps most importantly, he'd made it pretty much impossible to destroy his ship without destroying the estate below and the thousands of innocent beings trapped there, including Fey'lya and Organa.
Now that Emancipator and Tenacious had both joined Steadfast in Etti IV's atmosphere, things were getting a little tight. The ships were launching fighters at one another but seemed loathe to exchange actual broadsides. Dey'rylan didn't know what kind of danger it posed to light up a planet's atmosphere with excessive volumes of plasma, but all three massive ships seemed acutely aware that the most valuable prize in this whole fight lay on the vulnerable ground beneath them. Even the Mon Cal cruisers seemed to have mostly restricted themselves to launching fighter support rather than risk firing down at the planet's surface.
Makati had found a good defensive strategy, but if he tried to run in any direction he was stuck. The grand admiral wasn't stupid enough to box himself in like this with no hope of escape, and it made Dey'rylan nervous. There was some-thing they were all missing.
His comlink buzzed and he eagerly plucked it from his pocket. "Dey'rylan here."
"You're still alive, good," said Jekk Karr.
"Likewise. We've found a good place with lots of camera feeds to hole up in. Where are you guys?"
"Deck BK aft, section 102. You see us?"
"Give me a sec." Dey'rylan shut off the security cam feed from the bridge and, with some effort, found the one Karr had mentioned. It looked like some long, narrow main-tenance hallway, abandoned except for two guys in storm-troopers armor who were making un-stormtrooper-like gestures at the camera.
"You guys are professionals," Kasck smirked. "Did you run into any trouble?"
"Nope," said Ekrhine. "With the battle on everybody's going where they're supposed to go and assuming everybody else is to. So no security checks."
"What are you doing down there?" asked Dey'rylan.
"Check your schematics, Boss," said Karr. "We're right by the main targeting sensor node for the entire dorsal section of the ship."
"You're trying to knock out the bottom guns?" asked Kasck.
"Right on. We've got charges and everything, but we can't get through the door up ahead. We figure you might help."
"Give me a few minutes," Dey'rylan said, and started pulling up ship schematics on the other screen. It wouldn't be hard for him to remotely disable the alarms on the door, assuming he could find the one they were looking at.
As he worked, Kasck said, "If you're just knocking out the targeting computer they'll still be able to aim those guns manually."
"Sure," said Karr, "But it'll be a lot harder for them to hit our snubfighters and a lot easier for our evac shuttles to move in."
"Fair enough. Plan to hit anything else after this?"
"I don't know. When are you guys going after Makati?"
"I don't know. We're all a long way from the bridge and the whole command tower is really fortified. Plus he's got that crazy gunslinger droid we saw at-"
"I think I've got it," Dey'rylan said. "Guys, check the serial number on your door panel. Read it to me."
The two faux-stormtroopers disappeared from the camera's view, but a moment later Ekrhine read, "EK-768-995. Got it?"
"I've got it. I'm disabling the door now." They let him work in silence, and it took him less than a minute to kill all security protocols for the door.
"Great work, boss," said Karr. "Leave the rest to us."
"Can't wait for the boom," Dey'rylan said and flicked off his comlink. He looked at Kasck and said, "Finally we're being useful."
"Finally," agreed the other Bothan. "I just hope Torr got off Bonadan safe."
"He knows what he's doing. Don't worry about him." Dey'rylan switched the feed from the security cameras back to Steadfast's bridge and tapped a claw on Makati's pale figure. "Now that's what we need to worry about."
"I guess we should start looking up the sneakiest way up there.
"I guess so too. Now if you'll give me a minute-"
Something on this third screen lit up. Dey'rylan glanced at the reports from the outside battle for the first time in minutes and couldn't believe what he was seeing.
Kasck sensed his surprise. "What is it? What happened? Is it Emancipator? Was she hit?"
"Oh, no," Dey'rylan said. "This is much worse."
According to the sensor reports, the three Imperial warships had just jumped into low orbit and begun to engage the Mon Cal cruisers: two Imperial-class star destroyers and one massive, nineteen-kilometer-long super star destroyer called Vengeance.
-{}-
Grand Admiral Octavian Grant was proud to be considered an old-school tactician with an appreciation for precise and elegant use of individual units to achieve battlefield supremacy. Nonetheless, as he stood on Vengeance's bridge, he had to admit there was something to be said for getting on a really big star destroyer and pulverizing your enemies with endless waves of emerald destruction.
Vehn Sysco seemed to be enjoying it as well, judging from the captain's gleeful expression as he watched Vengeance's turbolaser batteries bombard the three Mon Cal cruisers and their support ships. The Rebels, to their credit, weren't stupid enough to try and fight an enemy with overwhelming fire-power. They were trying to break formation and scatter, forcing Vengeance to chase one but not the others.
Still, they had been stuck deep in Etti IV's gravity well when Grant had arrived, and they had limited places to run as Vengeance's black sword cut down at them. One Mon Cal ship managed to make a cleaner break than the others, and Grant assigned Captain Trigit to chase it down with Implacable. At the same time, he ordered Oriflamme to stay close, just in case he needed it.
Another Mon Cal ship and its two flanking assault frigates were attempting to sneak beneath Vengeance; Grant chose to ignore their threat for the moment and concentrate fire on the third and last heavy cruiser. The ship was closest to Vengeance's stern and attempted to fire off several volleys of concussion missiles at its engine section. The week-long repairs at Bilbringi had been rushed at the end, but the techs had still done a fine job of bringing the ship back up to fighting shape, and Vengeance was able to absorb the impact from every last missile before unleashing wave after wave of turbolaser fire from its aft batteries. The Mon Cal ship withstood the fire few volleys, but then Captan Bremel moved Oriflamme to strike from above, acting at the hammer that pounded the Rebel ship against Vengeance's anvil. It was crushed between the two and, after less than ten minutes of nonstop turbolaser fire, it lost all engine shields, suffered a reactor burst, and exploded so brilliantly the flashing light carved shadows on the faces of the bridge crew.
The cheers were respectably restrained, but Grant didn't have time to bask in them. The comm officer said he had an incoming transmission from Captain Bremel, and the grand admiral told him to sent it directly to his personal comlink.
"What is it, Captain?" asked Grant.
"Sir, we're holding a call on your private channel," Bremel said. "It's from the same private channel as before."
"Excellent. Tight-beam it over to Vengeance, executive priority."
"Very good, sir."
Grant turned off his comlink and walked over to Sysco. "Captain," he said, "I have to take a brief call in my cabin. You have the bridge."
"Yes, sir," Sysco said. He looked like he was enjoying this.
Grant hurried back to the spartan chamber he couldn't help but think of a Jerec's. He fired up the communications console, input his executive code, and brought up the holo-image of Leonia Tavira.
"Ah, Grand Admiral, it's good to see you," she said pleasantly. He was instantly suspicious.
"Where are you now?" he asked. "Have you found Starflare?"
"We're on our way."
"Tell me your location and I'll meet you." With Vengeance on the scene the battle was all but over. He could leave the fight to Makati, Sysco, and Trigit and still beat Tavira and Thrawn to Starflare; at least, it was worth a try.
Tavira tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Hmmm… And why would I do that?"
"Are you aboard that star destroyer you wanted?"
"I am. If you fulfill the rest of your bargain, I'll tell you where Starflare is."
Grant snorted. "The longer you draw this out the longer it will take me to get there. Assuming you even know where Starflare is."
"I do," the girl said defiantly. "Give me Invidious and I'll let you have her."
"No. Here's what we're going to do, girl. You tell me the location. I meet you there. Then I tell you how to take over Invidious because, together, we're going to have to fight off a grand admiral to get our prize."
She looked confused. "A grand admiral? Makati?"
"No, you trollop, Grand Admiral Thrawn. You've heard of him, haven't you?"
Her eyes narrowed. "I've heard…. Rumors."
"They're not rumors. He may be an upstart alien but he hunted down and killed Grand Admiral Zaarin. Do you really thing you can fight him off with one star destroyer on a skeleton crew of pirates and riffraff?"
She scowled. "How do I know you're not lying to me?"
He wasn't lying. He wasn't telling the truth either. For all he knew, Thrawn had claimed Starflare already, though he'd have gotten a call from Isard complaining about it by now.
The alien was out there somewhere, he was sure of that. With utter honestly, Grant said, "You cannot risk going against Thrawn by yourself. Don't be a fool."
For a moment she looked like the confused, torn teenager she was. Then she titled her head back and attempted that Isard impression again. "I am currently en route to Orron III. I expect to meet you there and receive full control over Invidious."
"Excellent. I'll be there as soon as I can."
Grant turned off the link and the holo shut off. He stood in front of the console for a long moment, then called up Steadfast. Makati's image promptly filled the space where Tavira's had been.
"Grand Admiral Grant," Makati said, with a rare and relieved smile on his lips. "Thank you for your timely arrival."
"I assure you, it's my pleasure. We've already destroyed one of their Mon Calamari cruisers. Have you retrieved the Rebel leaders yet?"
"No, but my ground forces have infiltrated the estate. It's only a matter of time."
"What about the rebel star destroyer?"
"We have it boxed in, and without support from the cruisers in orbit it can't threaten us."
"Good. I'll send fighters down from Vengeance to help your air support."
"I'd very much appreciate that."
There was no point in hesitating. Grant said, "Grand Admiral Makati, I'm afraid I must leave the rest of the battle in your hands. I'm taking Oriflamme on an urgent mission but Vengeance will remain in orbit. I'll tell Captain Sysco to defer to your commands."
"I see." Makati tilted his head quizzically. "Do you need assistance on this mission?"
"Not at all," Grant said, then decided to reassure him. "I have to make rendezvous with a mutual friend of ours. Grand Admiral Thrawn." It wasn't exactly a lie.
Makati's eyes lit up. "I see. Well, make haste then. And good luck."
"Likewise." Grant snapped a crisp salute. The other grand admiral returned it. Then Grant reached for the console and Makati's image died.
Grant took a deep breath, then marched out of Jerec's cabin for the last time. All in all, he knew he'd feel better being on his old ship. It was the closest thing he had to home.