But the Grayshrike was massive, and it had been moving at orbital speeds behind the asteroid, and there was simply too much inertia involved to come to a quick stop. As the compensators caught up and smoothed out the Grayshrike’s movement, the ship lurched with multiple impacts from high-speed pieces of the asteroid shell slamming into its bow and flank extensions.
“Orders?” Ghaloksu called out.
Lakinda focused on the sensor display. The asteroid’s internal framework had opened to full extension, a few bits of stone still clinging to the struts that had slammed outward and forced the shell apart. In the center of the framework, rotating faster now that it no longer had to contend with the shell’s extra mass, was the missile, its nose peeking out from the thick casing that was the launcher. “Launch spheres,” she ordered. “Wikivv, all ahead full—get us in close.”
“Launching spheres,” Ghaloksu said.
“Accelerating to close approach,” Wikivv added.
With the viewport still blocked by the blast shields, there was no direct view available. But between the sensor and tactical displays, the situation was more than clear.
Clear, and ominous. The framework hadn’t rotated completely around yet to line up the missile on the Grayshrike, which left the tighter lattice sections forming a barrier between the cruiser and the missile launcher. On top of that, the framework was still rotating. The combination of those two factors was going to make it extremely difficult for Ghaloksu to get even a single plasma sphere through any of the gaps intact.
But he was giving it his best shot. Lakinda watched tensely as sphere after sphere hit a lattice strut and exploded in a burst of ionic energy, or occasionally slipped through a gap only to miss the launcher and shoot across to explode on the framework’s other side. Peripherally, she saw that with the aliens’ ambush having failed, the Battle Dreadnought had opened fire on the Vigilant. The space between the two massive warships had erupted in laserfire and the thruster trails of missiles.
“Grayshrike, report,” Ar’alani’s taut voice came over the speaker.
Lakinda keyed her comm. “Enemy launcher open to attack,” she called back. “Engaging it with spheres.”
“Good. Make it fast.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Lakinda said, frowning as the barrage of plasma spheres abruptly stopped. “Ghaloksu?”
“Launch window section of the lattice is coming up, ma’am,” Ghaloksu said. “I’m holding back until we have a clearer shot.”
Lakinda felt her stomach tighten. A clear shot at the launcher was all well and good…except that a clear sight line worked in both directions. If the launcher hadn’t been completely disabled, the missile could end up coming straight down the Grayshrike’s throat.
She took a quick look at the tactical data display. Despite the obstacles, Ghaloksu had managed to get three completely on-target impacts. Even if the launcher was still partially functional, that should be enough to at least slow it down. “Understood,” she told him. “Don’t miss.” The opening rotated into position—
And the Grayshrike’s entire forward plasma battery opened up, raining a fresh barrage of spheres at the launcher, their ion bursts creating a spectacular display of coronal fire as they spattered against the target. Lakinda watched the display, looking closely for any signs of activity. So far, nothing. “Vimsk?” she prompted
“I think we got it, ma’am,” Vimsk reported. “No electronic or electrical activity registering. It’s dead.”
“Or at least sleeping very soundly,” Apros added. “Captain, spheres are down to less than sixty percent.”
“Ghaloksu, belay sphere launches,” Lakinda ordered, looking at the display showing the distant battle. The Vigilant was still standing its ground, but if the flickers of explosions were any indication, the alien’s missiles were getting steadily closer before Ar’alani’s spectrum lasers could take them out. She keyed the comm—“Admiral, we’ve neutralized the missile launcher.”
“Good,” Ar’alani said. “Lock on a tractor beam and get over here.”
Lakinda frowned. She understood that Ar’alani wanted the launcher captured intact for study. But with the Vigilant going toe-to-toe with a Battle Dreadnought, the launcher didn’t seem like it should be the Grayshrike’s first priority. She keyed the mute—“Ghaloksu, how fast can you get the launcher free?” she asked.
“Not very, ma’am,” Ghaloksu said. “It’s tethered to the lattice with sixteen guy wires. The lasers should be able to cut them, but they’re so thin they’re going to be hard to hit. And of course, some of them are currently behind the launcher.”
“Understood,” Lakinda said, looking back at the battle. Ar’alani’s prize was just going to have to wait. “Wikivv, get us moving—full attack vector.”
“Yes, ma’am,” the pilot said, and there was another slightly uncompensated jerk as she angled the Grayshrike around the side of the lattice and threw full power to the thrusters.
“Keep us on the enemy’s portside flank,” Lakinda continued. “Better chance of sneaking up on it that way.”
“Even if they haven’t fixed the overall damage, they may still have replaced some of those sensors,” Apros pointed out. “Do you want to hit them with a sphere barrage first to knock out whatever’s there?”
“No, we’ll risk it,” Lakinda said, studying the tactical. The Battle Dreadnought was nose-on to the Vigilant, both ships attacking with their flank and shoulder weapons clusters. If the alien ship was still even partially blind on its port side, the Grayshrike should be able to get into attack range before it was spotted. “Even if the sensors are still gone, a sphere barrage will alert them that we’re coming.”
“Understood,” Apros said. “What’s your plan?”
“We’re going to try to take out the hyperdrive or the main thrusters or both,” Lakinda said. “Ghaloksu, set up breacher attacks midships and aft, using your best guess as to where those two systems are centered. Once the breachers have hit, follow up with laser barrages.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Ghaloksu said.
“Whether we manage that or not, we’ll keep going,” Lakinda continued, “sweeping over the warship’s dorsal surface and strafing with spheres, breachers, and lasers. Once past, Wikivv, you’ll run us a one-eighty yaw turn to face the alien’s starboard side, and we’ll continue the attack. Questions?”
There was a brief silence. “Then get to it,” Lakinda said. “Vimsk, grab every bit of data you can about that ship, both to assist Ghaloksu in targeting and also for future analysis.”
“Yes, ma’am,” the sensor officer said.
“Good.” Lakinda took a deep breath. “The Vigilant’s in trouble. Let’s even the odds a little.”
The Battle Dreadnought had first fired two missiles, then four missiles, then six. Now the latest salvo—eight missiles—was on its way.
“Could they be any more obvious?” Wutroow muttered.
“Perfectly straightforward way to find the limits of an enemy’s defenses,” Ar’alani pointed out.
“Straightforward, maybe, but pretty expensive,” Wutroow said as the Vigilant’s spectrum lasers took out the first two incoming missiles. “They’d have done better to just throw a single massive volley and see how many of them we couldn’t stop.”
“Alien minds, alien logic,” Ar’alani said. “Oeskym?”
“We’re handling it,” the Vigilant’s weapons officer said. “Breachers are reset if you want to try those again.”
“Admiral, the Grayshrike’s headed this way,” Biclian cut in before Ar’alani could answer.
Ar’alani looked at the tactical. The cruiser was indeed on the move, accelerating at full power toward the battle.
Only it was coming alone, without the lattice and hidden missile launcher Ar’alani had specifically told Lakinda to bring with her.
She hissed out a quiet curse. Her plan had been for the Grayshrike to tow the launcher in close and then propel it into the combat zone between the two ships. If the Vigilant’s electronics people were lucky, they might be able to trigger the launcher and send the missile at the Battle Dreadnought. If not, Ar’alani could try to detonate the missile in place in the hope of scoring some blast damage against the enemy. Now both those options were gone.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t order Lakinda to go back and get the launcher. The Grayshrike was already too far along, and accelerating too hard, for that to be practical.
“Launch two breachers,” she ordered Oeskym. “Try running a laser spread around them, see if that will keep the dibbers away.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Ar’alani shifted her attention to the tactical, watching as Oeskym launched the breacher missiles. The enemy had come up with a new tactic since their encounter with Thrawn and Lakinda: small, nimble missiles that Wutroow had dubbed dibbers, probably originally designed for use against gunboats and other small fighters. Unfortunately, the tiny missiles were also effective against breachers, and had successfully blasted all but two of the ones the Vigilant had launched against the alien.
Destroying the breachers didn’t stop the wave of released acid, of course, and the dibber swarm always paid the price. But so far they were hitting the breachers far enough out that the acid globs expanded and dissipated into uselessness by the time they reached the alien warship itself.
Even worse, the dibbers had proven surprisingly effective against the plasma spheres, their impacts puncturing the spheres’ self-focusing sheaths and dissipating the compressed ion clusters packed inside. The fact that the attacking dibber itself was instantly disabled was of little consolation, since the question at that point was whether the Vigilant would run out of sphere fluid before the Battle Dreadnought ran out of dibbers.
Given the recklessness with which the aliens were spending the little missiles, Ar’alani wouldn’t bet either way.
“What is she doing?” Wutroow said under her breath. “Is she looking to ram them?”
Ar’alani frowned. The Grayshrike was still accelerating toward the enemy warship, with no indication Lakinda was planning to slow down. “She must be trying to get in a flank attack before they know she’s there.”
“Trying being the operative word,” Wutroow growled. “What makes her think they haven’t replaced their portside sensors?”
“Probably figures it’s her best shot,” Ar’alani said, thinking quickly. Unless the Battle Dreadnought was still completely blind on that side, the Grayshrike’s only hope was for the Vigilant to create some sort of distraction. And given the alien commander’s obvious goal in his missile attacks…
Ar’alani looked back at the main tactical. The two breachers Oeskym had sent had now been destroyed, though having the lasers burning through the space around them as they flew had interfered with the dibber response enough that the missiles had made it closer than any of the previous attempts. Something to keep in mind for the future.
But for right now—“Oeskym, cease all offensive fire,” she ordered. “Continue with defensive fire only. Prep a volley of six breachers, targeted on sensor and weapons clusters along the starboard flank, with three spheres ready to fire behind each. Launch breachers on my command, spheres five seconds later.”
“Admiral?” Wutroow asked cautiously.
“Just watch,” Ar’alani said as she keyed her comm. If she was reading the enemy commander correctly, this should work. “This is Admiral Ar’alani,” she called. “Interesting preliminaries. So. Now that I know how to destroy you, shall we return to our respective peoples and deliver our reports?”
There was no response. The final enemy missile of the current salvo disintegrated under Chiss laserfire.
And then, to Ar’alani’s quiet relief, the Battle Dreadnought’s own lasers went silent. “Your statement lacks accuracy,” the alien commander said scornfully. “It is I who knows how to destroy you.”
“Hardly,” Ar’alani said, watching the Grayshrike’s approach out of the corner of her eye. She’d hoped Lakinda would pick up on the gambit, or at least realize that with hostilities temporarily stopped there was a greater chance the alien would notice her approach toward his portside flank.
Lakinda had. The Grayshrike, which had been driving at full acceleration, abruptly shut down its thrusters, leaving it coasting at high speed along its vector. Even better, the cruiser’s lights and emissions went dark as Lakinda put her ship into stealth mode.
And with that, Ar’alani’s hoped-for stage was set.
“No, you’ve seen what I wanted you to see,” she told the alien. “I, on the other hand, know exactly what your weak spot is and how to exploit it. So run home if you want. We’ll easily win the next battle.”
The alien spat out something in his own language. “You have not yet finished with this one,” he snarled. “I will destroy you all—”
“Launch,” Ar’alani said quietly.
The breacher missiles tore from their tubes, separating from their original formation as they followed Oeskym’s tracking toward six spots along the Battle Dreadnought’s starboard flank. The alien responded instantly, firing a burst of dibbers at each missile. The dibbers converged on their targets, slamming into the missiles and destroying them, sending their payloads into space. Even as the thick waves of acid slowly expanded, shimmering as they continued toward their original targets, the plasma spheres appeared, burning through space behind them. Another salvo of dibbers shot from the Battle Dreadnought, zeroing in on the spheres—
And disintegrated in midflight as their intercept courses took them straight through the acid globs flowing ahead of them.
“Lasers!” Ar’alani snapped. “Target bridge and dibber launchers.”
The Vigilant’s lasers tore at the alien’s hull. Simultaneously, the Battle Dreadnought’s lasers also opened fire, raking across the Chiss electrostatic barriers. Ar’alani watched as the plasma spheres completed their journey unhindered, delivering their paralyzing ion loads into the enemy’s starboard side. She shifted her attention to the Grayshrike—
Just in time to see the heavy cruiser launch twin clusters of breachers at the battle cruiser’s portside flank.
Belatedly, the alien warship opened defensive fire with a handful of spectrum lasers, probably all it had left on that side. But it was too little too late. The breachers slammed into the hull, their acid loads digging farther into the damage already there. The additional corrosion was eating through the metal when the Grayshrike’s own lasers opened fire, digging even deeper into the alien ship.
“Getting a drop in energy emissions,” Biclian called. “Power levels down thirty percent. I think the Grayshrike got one of their reactors.”
“They may have taken out the hyperdrive, too,” Wutroow added, pointing at one of the data displays. “Particle emission profile just dropped off the curve.” She looked back at Ar’alani. “Time to call on them to surrender?”
“Missile launch toward the Grayshrike!” Oeskym snapped.
Ar’alani winced. It was a big missile, bigger than any of the ones she’d yet seen the Battle Dreadnought use. Reflexively, she opened her mouth to shout a warning to Lakinda—
And closed it again. The missile had settled onto its final trajectory, and that vector wasn’t targeting the Grayshrike.
It was targeting the asteroid missile launcher.
Lakinda saw it, too. But there was nothing she could do. The Grayshrike’s lasers lanced out, trying to take out the weapon as it swept past. But it was too well armored, and going too fast, and in the end she could do nothing except join Ar’alani in watching it slam into the lattice and launcher and obliterate both.
And with that task completed—
Ar’alani caught her breath with sudden premonition. “Lakinda, veer off!” she snapped. “Get out of there now.”
The Grayshrike had pitched upward in response to Ar’alani’s order and was driving away from the enemy when the Battle Dreadnought disintegrated in a coordinated series of violent explosions.
“Wutroow, get us out of here,” Ar’alani ordered.
“Yes, Admiral.”
A moment later, even as the Vigilant started pulling away, the first wave of debris spattered across its hull. Ar’alani tensed, but the impacts were far gentler even than those they’d suffered from destroyed enemy missiles. Clearly, the Battle Dreadnought’s self-destruct system had been designed to shred everything into very small pieces.
And with that, it was over.
“Grayshrike?” Ar’alani called. “Report.”
“Minor damage only, Admiral,” Lakinda’s voice came back.
“Same here,” Ar’alani said, running her eye over the Vigilant’s damage report. “Fortunately for us, he was more interested in learning our tactics and weak spots than in outright destroying us. Come back around—we’ll rendezvous and see how much of this we can sort out.”
“Acknowledged, Admiral.”
Ar’alani keyed off. “Senior Captain Wutroow, go to the sensor station and assist Biclian in looking for any dibbers that might still be incapacitated after running through one of our spheres,” she ordered. “If you find one, get a shuttle out there to bring it back for study.”
“After making sure it stays incapacitated, I assume?” Wutroow asked, gesturing the order over to Biclian.
“Absolutely,” Ar’alani confirmed. “The last thing we want is to bring a weapon aboard that might go boom. Better idea: Rig one of the shuttles with disassembly and analysis equipment, and they can do the preliminary work out there.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Wutroow said. “Whether or not they found our weak spots, at least we found theirs.”
“Which is?” Ar’alani asked.
Wutroow frowned slightly. “The mixed breacher-and-sphere attack. Right?”
Ar’alani shook her head. “That was a useful tactic. But it’s not their underlying weakness.” She gestured to the tactical. “At their earlier encounter, the Grayshrike blinded their portside flank sensors with spheres, opening the way for Thrawn to launch an attack against that side. Here, with the Grayshrike coming up on that same side, we threw spheres at their starboard flank.”
“Ah,” Wutroow said, nodding. “Which they then assumed was a precursor to an attack over on that side. Possibly from a third ship about to come at them out of hyperspace.”
“Right,” Ar’alani said. “Notice, too, that all of that reaction came after the asteroid’s inbuilt self-defense system blew the shell when it sensed it was being attacked.”
“Is that what happened to it?”
“I assume so,” Ar’alani said. “We’ll study the Grayshrike’s records, but it’s the only thing that makes sense. At any rate, the Battle Dreadnought’s commander saw the explosion, and with the lack of good sensors on that side he assumed the Grayshrike was at least temporarily out of the battle.”
“I see,” Wutroow said. “So their weakness is making assumptions and not confirming them?”
“And perhaps being too easily distracted.” Ar’alani gestured to the sensor station. “Get busy on that dibber hunt. The aliens worked very hard to make sure there weren’t any souvenirs for us to take home. Let’s see if we can find something they missed.”
“I’m sorry, Admiral,” Lakinda said, trying not to wince. Even in a private meeting, facing a superior officer required a certain degree of decorum. “I assumed you meant to bring just the launcher, and I was told we couldn’t get it free quickly enough.”
“It’s all right,” Ar’alani soothed from the other end of the conference table. “My scenario would also have ended with the missile destroyed, so it’s not as if we could have salvaged it for study anyway.”
“No, ma’am.” The admiral was being nice about it, but there was no way Lakinda could avoid feeling like a fool.
What made it even worse was the nagging suspicion that Thrawn wouldn’t have missed the intent of Ar’alani’s quick order.
“I presume you’ve heard we weren’t able to get to any of the dibbers before they also self-destructed,” Ar’alani continued. “Whoever these aliens are, they’re very determined to keep as many of their secrets as they can.”
“It would appear so,” Lakinda agreed.
Of course, the battle itself had provided some data. They had the enemy’s laser spectra and intensities, plus their overall missile blast profiles. The Grayshrike also had the form and design of the metal lattice they’d used in the asteroid weapon.
Unfortunately, none of that would go very far in figuring out who these aliens were or where they came from.
“Still, the commander was more careless than he might have been with his language,” Ar’alani said. “The term he used—generalirius—when he was referring to General Yiv, for example. Of course, he was expecting to destroy both of us before we could send word elsewhere.”
“Yes, I saw that in your report,” Lakinda said. “Do you know what it means?”
“No, but the term generalissimo is supposedly used by a couple of nations out past the Tarleev,” Ar’alani said. “It refers to someone who’s both the chief military commander and the chief civilian leader. Generalirius might be related to that term.”
“Interesting,” Lakinda said. Or, of course, it might not be related to anything at all. “If they’re from that part of the Chaos, they traveled quite a distance to get here.”
“Which would raise interesting questions as to what they’re doing here,” Ar’alani agreed soberly. “First Yiv, and now these unknowns, all coming out of nowhere to sniff around the Ascendancy’s borders. Two data points is hardly a pattern, but even so I don’t like the trend.”
“On the other hand, unless someone else uses the same asteroid trap, these are the same ones who took out those Nikardun bases,” Lakinda pointed out. “It’s possible they came here solely to chase down Yiv, and now that he’s gone they might simply leave.”
“That would be very convenient,” Ar’alani said. “Though if all they wanted was Yiv, why take a poke at us?”
Lakinda felt her lip twitch. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “Alien minds; alien logic.”
“An all-too-common excuse for lack of knowledge,” Ar’alani said. “Unfortunately, also very true. Well. We don’t know if any of their other ships or bases were close enough for the commander to send his battle data before he self-destructed. If they were, we may have a tougher fight the next time we go up against one of them.”
“I suppose we’ll find out,” Lakinda said, eyeing Ar’alani closely. So far there’d been nothing in this conversation that couldn’t have been said via ship-to-ship comm. Why had the admiral invited her over to the Vigilant?
“I suppose we will,” Ar’alani agreed, something in her tone suggesting this part of the meeting was over. “That covers the official briefing, the part that will go on the record. Now the real reason I asked you here. I trust you’ve had time to read your most recent message from Csilla?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Lakinda said, keeping her voice and face studiously neutral. The transmission had come in via the Schesa triad only an hour ago, and a full hour’s worth of thought and puzzlement had still left her unable to make top or bottom of it. “I assume you also received a copy?”
“I did,” Ar’alani said. “Let’s start with the question of whether or not you want to go.”
Lakinda frowned. “The orders seemed abundantly clear,” she said, trying to read Ar’alani’s face. Unfortunately for her, the admiral was even better at being studiously neutral than she was. “I’m to proceed immediately to Csilla to rearm and repair as necessary, then join the Springhawk in Senior Captain Thrawn’s search for the Vagaari pirates.”
“The orders are indeed clear,” Ar’alani agreed. “But as your commander and the flag officer on the scene, I can countermand any and all orders as I see fit. So again: Do you want to go?”
“I’m sorry, Admiral, but I don’t understand the question,” Lakinda said, feeling even more like a fool. What exactly was Ar’alani getting at here? “Why would I not want to go assist the Springhawk?”
“First, because I could use you here, should our new friends send more ships.” Ar’alani looked her straight in the eye. “And second, because you have a problem with Thrawn.”
Lakinda felt her throat tighten. “I’m not sure I know what you mean, ma’am.”
“I think you do,” Ar’alani said. “Every time you and Thrawn are together, there’s an underlying prickliness in your face and voice. Nothing blatant, certainly nothing anyone else would probably notice. But it’s there.”
“Admiral—”
She stopped as Ar’alani held up a hand. “I don’t know what the issue is, and I don’t care. Family problems, personality conflicts, or whatever. It’s also certainly not unique in the fleet—there are whole sections of senior officers’ profiles devoted to who they work well with and who they should probably never be paired with again.”
Lakinda took a deep breath. “I don’t have a problem with Senior Captain Thrawn, ma’am,” she repeated. “Even if I did, I would never let personal feelings get in the way of working with him or any other of my fellow officers or warriors. Unless you need me to stay and assist with the ground survey, I’ll return to the Grayshrike and prepare for our departure.”
“Very good, Senior Captain,” Ar’alani said, her voice going to full formal. “At your convenience, and on your schedule. If I can assist in any way, don’t hesitate to let me know.”
“Thank you, Admiral,” Lakinda said. “One thought. Since I’m heading directly back to the Ascendancy, I suggest we transfer the Grayshrike’s remaining breachers and plasma fluid to the Vigilant. It won’t bring you up to a full complement of either, but it would be helpful if you end up in further combat.”
“It would indeed,” Ar’alani said. “Thank you for the offer. I’ll get Senior Captain Wutroow on it immediately.”
By the time Lakinda was back on her shuttle, she’d alerted Apros to get started on the weapons transfer from his end. Apros hadn’t been happy at the Grayshrike’s new orders, and his response to her order made it clear he was equally unhappy that Lakinda hadn’t asked Ar’alani to countermand Csilla on this one.
Lakinda couldn’t disagree. Even with the alien warship that apparently had been assigned to the system now destroyed, it was a serious risk for the Vigilant to stay here alone to search for the reasons for its presence. Two ships were always better than one, and the fact that Supreme Admiral Ja’fosk apparently thought Ar’alani would do better alone than Thrawn would was of small comfort.
Still, the Vigilant was a powerful warship and Ar’alani an extremely capable commander. If the aliens sent more ships, they would likely end up the same way the Battle Dreadnought had. Certainly Ar’alani’s plan had shown she shared Thrawn’s fondness for layered tactics.
Lakinda frowned as an odd thought struck her. Ar’alani was three years older than Thrawn, and she’d known him at Taharim Academy. Since that time the two of them had worked together on a number of missions.
So was it, in fact, Thrawn’s tactical genius that Ar’alani had learned from? Or was it the other way around? Could Thrawn have simply adopted Ar’alani’s methods and run with them? In that case, maybe he got all the attention because he was brash enough to go full-bore into situations where Ar’alani’s innate prudence suggested a slower approach.
If Thrawn really wasn’t as good as everyone thought, then maybe Lakinda wasn’t as much in his shadow as she thought.
Something to consider. In the meantime, she had a ship to prepare, weapons to off-load, and Thrawn’s latest reports to study. Whatever was going on with the Springhawk, the Grayshrike would likely be seeing more combat. Probably very soon.