Samakro looked at the display, anger churning his stomach. And Thrawn’s damn verbal deflection techniques—
The boiling emotion inside him abruptly cooled into ice. The ten gunboats that had been approaching in backup position had turned and were now heading back toward the distant Grayshrike.
“Apparently the Battle Dreadnought isn’t nearly as confident of victory as the size differential between him and the Grayshrike would suggest,” Thrawn continued. “Lakinda’s telemetry showed a smaller escort ship close to its side, possibly a tender or supply ship, possibly indicating unreadiness for full combat.”
“So they’re calling back the gunboats,” Samakro said.
“Indeed,” Thrawn said. “I believe we can handle five gunboats without serious problems.”
“Yes, sir, we can,” Samakro said, feeling like an idiot. Intent on watching the two aliens leave the bridge, he’d allowed a fluid battle situation to get ahead of him. He knew better than that. “Spheres and lasers?”
“Just lasers, I think,” Thrawn said. “I have something else in mind for the spheres. Afpriuh?”
“All systems ready, sir,” the weapons officer said, his voice crisp and confident.
“Lasers on all five gunboats,” Thrawn ordered, tapping his questis one final time. “Fire at optimal range. Azmordi, on my order take us at full speed along the indicated course. Continue data feed to the Grayshrike.”
Samakro looked at the tactical, where Thrawn’s course had now appeared. The Springhawk would be accelerating along a vector straight toward the Grayshrike, dipping deeper into the planet’s gravity well until it passed the midpoint of that line segment and started climbing out again.
The plot also marked the point where he expected Afpriuh to open fire. Samakro eyed the distances involved, mentally pulling up the laser profile they’d recorded when gunboats attacked the drone shuttle … “We’re going to take some damage, sir,” he warned.
“Yes,” Thrawn said. “But it should be minimal.”
“Understood,” Samakro said reluctantly. Going against five gunboats with only lasers was still a gamble. But it was one they had to take. The Springhawk’s electrostatic barriers and thick nyix-alloy hull could take a fair amount of damage without danger to the ship, and their remaining plasma spheres and breacher missiles had to be saved for the Battle Dreadnought.
“Course ready, sir,” Azmordi called from the helm.
“Lasers ready, sir,” Afpriuh added from the weapons station.
Thrawn keyed for general intercom. “Springhawk, prepare for battle,” he called, his voice echoing across the bridge and through every part of the ship. “Azmordi: Three, two, one.”
The Springhawk leapt forward, charging toward the five remaining gunboats. Their response was to open their rosette formation a little. Samakro checked the monitors, confirming the Springhawk’s electrostatic barriers were at full power and the spectrum lasers ready—
A second later five lasers slashed out from the gunboats, stabbing at the Springhawk’s hull. The barriers were diffusing a good 84 percent of the laser energy, but that left 16 percent that was still getting through. If the beams stayed focused on the same hull plates too long, it could mean trouble.
“Azmordi, evasive rotation and jinking,” Thrawn ordered. “Coordinate pattern with laser control. Afpriuh?”
“Almost to range, sir,” Afpriuh said. “Targeting pattern?”
“Simultaneous followed by sequential,” Thrawn said.
“Simultaneous, then sequential,” Afpriuh repeated, nodding. “Pattern locked.”
“Stand by simultaneous,” Thrawn said. “Three, two, one.”
Through the viewport Samakro saw the multiple blazes of fire as the Springhawk’s forward spectrum lasers lanced out, one shot targeting each of the five gunboats, the flash-ionized interplanetary medium marking the beams’ passage.
Samakro checked the readouts. The gunboats’ power levels were unchanged, their own lasers still intact and firing. Not surprising—at this range a single laser would have only a minor effect against even the limited electrostatic barriers warships that size could deploy.
But then, damage wasn’t the purpose of a simultaneous laser attack. Samakro shifted his attention back to the tactical—
“Sequentiaclass="underline" Three, two, one.”
And with the gunboats’ sensors temporarily overloaded and their pilots dazzled by the earlier blasts, the full force of the Springhawk’s forward laser array blasted into each in turn, breaking the barriers and shattering one, then the next, then the next, all the way around the circular formation.
“Secure from evasive,” Thrawn ordered. There was a brief clatter against the hull as the Springhawk drove through the debris from the destroyed gunboats. “Sensor sweep.”
“Ten gunboats ahead, closing on the Grayshrike,” Dalvu said. “Battle Dreadnought still hidden behind planetary rim.”
“Good,” Thrawn said. “Increase speed thirty percent.”
“Thirty percent, acknowledged,” Azmordi confirmed.
“Just thirty percent, sir?” Samakro asked softly. “At that speed we’ll barely be gaining on them.”
“Understood,” Thrawn said. “Plasma spheres ready?”
“Ready, sir,” Afpriuh said.
“Good,” Thrawn said. “Open a secure channel to Grayshrike.” He looked up at Samakro. “We need to talk with Senior Captain Lakinda.”
“We’re holding our own,” Lakinda assured Thrawn. “I get the feeling they weren’t really prepared for a fight.”
Which wasn’t to say the Battle Dreadnought hadn’t fully risen to the occasion, she privately conceded. Its electrostatic barriers, which the sensor record showed had been at minimal power when the Grayshrike first appeared, had now reached full strength. More critically, the number of lasers firing at the Chiss cruiser had increased, and the launchers seemed to be firing as fast as new missiles could be loaded into them.
So far the Grayshrike’s own barriers and point defenses were keeping pace with the barrage. But as the Battle Dreadnought continued forward, and the reaction time between missile launch and laser lock-fire-destroy decreased, the situation was edging toward critical.
“Which raises the question of why it attacked in the first place instead of simply running,” Thrawn said. “But that’s a topic for later. Is it still driving toward you?”
“Yes, and increasing speed,” Lakinda said, risking a quick look at the tactical. The ten gunboats sweeping toward her starboard flank were coming up fast, too.
The Springhawk, in contrast, seemed almost to be dawdling. “And those gunboats who were trying to ruin your day are now hoping to ruin mine,” she added. “I don’t suppose you can pick up a little speed, maybe get in range of them before they’re in range of me?”
“In a moment,” Thrawn promised. “I’m sending an attack plan. Can you play your part?”
Lakinda felt her eyes narrow. Play your part? The Grayshrike was in the hot seat here, not the Springhawk. Since when was Thrawn in charge of their joint battle plan, and Lakinda merely playing a part?
The plan came up on the tactical, and she felt her eyes narrow even further. Of all the insane—