“For all the gain that will bring you,” Nyama said contemptuously. “They’ll just continue to follow their previous orders. Most likely something simple like ‘Kill all the attackers.’ ”
“There may be other ways to exploit that sort of communications system,” Thrawn said.
Nyama snorted. “If you think that—”
“Wait—here comes more Soldier Speak,” Parck interrupted as the computer caught the language keys. He turned up the volume, wincing as the squealing sounds again assaulted his ears.
The monologue was short. “Liaison Nyama?” Parck invited.
“Nothing useful,” Nyama said. “Soldiers: escort your Queen to the Palace.”
“I thought all the Soldiers were outside,” Fel said.
“There are air vents near the ceiling,” Thrawn said, his eyes back on the pictures the holocam had taken. “They can hear her commands through those.”
But now Parck could see that the tension lines in his commander’s face had smoothed out. “You found something, Admiral?” he asked.
“I believe I may have found the solution,” Thrawn said, laying the datapad aside. “From the artwork Nuso Esva has chosen to surround himself with, I anticipate he’ll deploy most of his forces at the western edge of the city, clustered around Setting Sun Avenue.”
Surreptitiously, Parck looked at Nyama. Thrawn’s unique ability to read a species’ deepest psychological core by studying its artwork was one of his greatest strengths, enabling him to anticipate his opponents’ moves right down to their likely battlefield tactics. New allies seeing it demonstrated for the first time inevitably reacted with surprise, awe, or disbelief.
Nyama was apparently going for option three. “Brilliantly anticipated,” the Stromma said sarcastically. “Of course he’ll concentrate his forces there—that’s the only spot on the perimeter where your juggernaut heavy tanks can enter the city. Everywhere else Nuso Esva’s umbrella shields are angled at the edges to block vehicles of any size.”
“Which suggests Setting Sun Avenue is the entrance to a trap,” Balkin suggested.
“Indeed,” Thrawn agreed calmly. “Because the area won’t be guarded solely by Quesoth Soldiers. He’ll also have a number of heavy-weapons emplacements concealed along the route, waiting for our juggernauts. As our forces enter the city, he’ll angle the umbrella shields downward along the route, protecting the shields’ generators from the juggernauts’ fire, as well as preventing the tanks from straying off that path. Once the juggernauts have penetrated a predetermined distance into the city, he’ll blast the first and last ones in line, thereby trapping all the others. At that point, he can destroy them at his leisure.”
Parck nodded, a sour taste in his mouth. It was a tactic they’d seen Nuso Esva use to devastating effect in previous encounters against some of the Empire of the Hand’s other allies. “So how do we counter it?” he asked.
“We first let him think his plan is working,” Thrawn said. “That means sending the line of juggernauts in as he expects.” His eyes glittered. “But before he can launch his attack, we destroy the trap.”
“Allow me to guess,” Nyama growled. “Squadron Commander Fel and his oh-so expert TIE pilots fly in through the gaps between the umbrella shields and blast the hidden guns.”
“You scoff, but it’s actually quite possible,” Fel said. “The shields don’t overlap nearly as well as they should. There are numerous gaps between them, including at least one along one of the steepest parts of the main city hill that’s big enough to fly through if we come in at just the right angle. Once we’re in and below the level of the shields, everything but the palace and palace grounds should be wide open to us.”
“That assumes your pilots are able to insert at the necessary angle,” Nyama countered. “In the heat and flurry of battle, such precision would be impossible.”
Fel shrugged. “Impossible is Gray Squadron’s specialty.”
“And what of the laser cannons spread throughout the city?” Nyama persisted. “We gave them those cannons, Commander Fel, years before Nuso Esva’s intrusion into this region. Each cannon is twin-barreled, with rapid-fire capabilities and enough power to take out one of your vaunted TIE fighters with a single shot. And they have massive forward shield plates, which makes them nearly impossible to destroy along their own fire-lines.”
“But they have only manual targeting,” Thrawn reminded them. “And the very shields that protect them also make them heavy and unwieldy. Even Nuso Esva’s most expert gunners will have trouble with TIE attack speeds.”
“Unless the TIE is coming straight at them, as is the case with Commander Fel’s scenario,” Nyama said acidly. “No, Admiral Thrawn. Trust me: your TIE fighters will be useless in this battle.”
“Perhaps,” Thrawn said. “We shall see.”
“We shall see?” Nyama echoed. “Tell me, Admiraclass="underline" if the Admonitor’s turbolasers are incapable of penetrating the shields, your TIEs certainly won’t be able to do so. What then will you have them do? Destroy the homes of the Workers and Soldiers that lie outside the shield zone?”
“We do not make war on civilians, Liaison Nyama,” Thrawn said, his voice suddenly cold and brittle. “A fact you well know.”
For a second Nyama’s antagonism seemed to waver. Then, his natural Stromma leadership attitude reasserted itself. “Then what will they do?” he demanded.
“As Commander Fel has already stated, there are gaps between the shields,” Thrawn said. “While the juggernauts move into the city, the TIEs will be shooting through those gaps with the goal of demolishing one or more of the shield generators.”
“Generators that are protected by the very shields they create?” Nyama scoffed. “You can’t hit the generators unless you’re already beneath the shields.”
“Unless it happens that a gap between two shields opens up a targeting vector to a third,” Thrawn pointed out. “I admit the probability is low, but as Commander Fel pointed out, the coverage is not as good as it would have been if Nuso Esva had had more shields available. And if such an attack succeeds, the TIEs will be in position to take full advantage of the situation. But no, the downfall of Nuso Esva’s plan will not be our TIE fighters, but our stormtroopers.”
“Your stormtroopers?”
Across the table, Balkin stirred at the implied slight against his forces. Thrawn’s hand twitched a warning, and the other subsided.
“Nuso Esva will have instructed the Queen to array the bulk of her Soldiers along Setting Sun Avenue to prevent a sortie from the juggernauts,” the admiral said. “We’ll therefore send a small stormtrooper force into the city southwest of the main assault, angle up toward the juggernaut line’s southern flank, and attack the avenue’s shield generators from behind.”
Nyama shook his head. “Nuso Esva will not sit idly by and let that happen. Nor will the Queen of the Red. The Soldiers lining the attack route will simply turn around and swarm against the stormtroopers.”
“Of course they will,” Thrawn said. “When that happens, the stormtroopers will retreat, drawing them still farther from the juggernauts and the shields.” He smiled slightly. “And when they’re too far back to respond, the stormtroopers inside the tanks will emerge, cut their way through the remaining Soldiers, and destroy the shields.”
Nyama snorted. “And all this against Quesoth Soldiers? You have far too much confidence in your humans, Admiral Thrawn.”
“The stormtroopers of the 501st consist of humans and nonhumans,” Thrawn reminded him calmly. “Including a number of your own people.”
“Not anymore.” Abruptly, Nyama stood up. “I’ve heard enough. The Stromma council will not risk its warriors in this mad attack. Particularly not an attack against our allies. I hereby withdraw all of them from Imperial service, effective immediately.”