attack and capture the armored vehicles,”/ Lhagva translated. “They must have gotten the lead juggernaut stopped.”
“Sounds like it,” Sanjin said. “I hope they like what they—”
“Hold on,” Lhagva interrupted him as the Soldier Speak continued. /“Kill the crews and all the white-armored invaders inside.”/
“Yeah, good luck with that,” Sanjin said with a grunt. “Break time over, troopers. Get back to work.”
“Flanking right!” someone warned.
Lhagva fired one last shot through the window at the swarm of Soldiers and then turned back toward the doorway. “I’m on it,” he called.
“There they go,” General Tasse reported tightly, pointing at one of the displays. “Coming out of concealment … must be two thousand of them.”
“The defensive line’s on the move, too,” one of the others said. “Another fifteen hundred at least. Looks like a few of Nuso Esva’s personal troops are in there with them.”
Tasse grunted. “Looks like Nuso Esva’s decided we don’t have anything
left in the transports we can throw at him, so he’s retasked his defense line,” he said. “Figures the more bodies he throws against the juggernauts, the faster he can batter his way in.”
Parck winced. Nuso Esva was certainly right on that count. Thirty-five hundred Soldiers with maces would make quick work of even a juggernaut’s hatch.
“Admiral, two of the umbrella shields are down,” a lieutenant called from the tech board. “Southwest sector.”
So Lieutenant Sanjin’s stormtrooper contingent had come through.
“Can the TIEs get in through the breach?” Parck asked.
“No, sir,” the lieutenant said. “The adjoining shields are angled downward like the ones at the city’s outer edge. They’re too low to permit any vehicle entry.”
“As expected,” Thrawn said calmly. “Nuso Esva is nothing if not thorough. What’s Lieutenant Sanjin’s status?”
“He reports two down,” Commander Balkin reported. “The rest are holding for now.”
“Order them to continue pressing on the laser cannon emplacement,” Thrawn said. “The longer Nuso Esva thinks we’re following his script, the longer it will take him to react to the genuine breach.”
Parck frowned. “Following his /script?”/
“Of course,” Thrawn said, frowning as if it was obvious. “Why else did you think I let him arrange the art in the Dwelling of Guests and then make it sound like I needed to see it? I wanted him to think that he’d manipulated our operation and had it under his control.”
Parck felt a smile twitch at his lips. He should have known it was something like that. As Thrawn had said, Nuso Esva understood him. Or thought he did. “When do you plan to leave his script?”
“Right now.” Thrawn pointed at the tac board. “The fourteenth loudspeaker has just been located.” He keyed his comm. “Commander Fel, you may begin your run. Good luck.”
“Acknowledged,” Fel said, baring his teeth in a tight smile. Finally. “Gray Squadron, into your positions. Stent, on me.”
He swung his TIE around, listening with half an ear to the chorus of acknowledgments from his pilots as he eyed the cityscape below. Considering some of the traps Nuso Esva had set in the past, he reflected, this one was almost simple. A single opening in the umbrella shield coverage, apparently there by accident, big enough for a TIE fighter to slip through if it came in at just the right vector. And on the same vector, a heavy twin-barreled laser cannon lurking in concealment, ready to blow apart an unwary pilot.
But as was also typical of Nuso Esva, the laser cannon wasn’t there solely to seal the flytrap. The TIE pilots had had plenty of time to map the shields and weapons emplacements in that zone, and Fel had spotted at least eight other, smaller openings in the barrier nearby that the lasers could fire through.
“Sounds like it,” Sanjin said. “I hope they like what they—”
“Hold on,” Lhagva interrupted him as the Soldier Speak continued. /“Kill the crews and all the white-armored invaders inside.”/
“Yeah, good luck with that,” Sanjin said with a grunt. “Break time over, troopers. Get back to work.”
“Flanking right!” someone warned.
Lhagva fired one last shot through the window at the swarm of Soldiers and then turned back toward the doorway. “I’m on it,” he called.
“There they go,” General Tasse reported tightly, pointing at one of the displays. “Coming out of concealment … must be two thousand of them.”
“The defensive line’s on the move, too,” one of the others said. “Another fifteen hundred at least. Looks like a few of Nuso Esva’s personal troops are in there with them.”
Tasse grunted. “Looks like Nuso Esva’s decided we don’t have anything
left in the transports we can throw at him, so he’s retasked his defense line,” he said. “Figures the more bodies he throws against the juggernauts, the faster he can batter his way in.”
Parck winced. Nuso Esva was certainly right on that count. Thirty-five hundred Soldiers with maces would make quick work of even a juggernaut’s hatch.
“Admiral, two of the umbrella shields are down,” a lieutenant called from the tech board. “Southwest sector.”
So Lieutenant Sanjin’s stormtrooper contingent had come through.
“Can the TIEs get in through the breach?” Parck asked.
“No, sir,” the lieutenant said. “The adjoining shields are angled downward like the ones at the city’s outer edge. They’re too low to permit any vehicle entry.”
“As expected,” Thrawn said calmly. “Nuso Esva is nothing if not thorough. What’s Lieutenant Sanjin’s status?”
“He reports two down,” Commander Balkin reported. “The rest are holding for now.”
“Order them to continue pressing on the laser cannon emplacement,” Thrawn said. “The longer Nuso Esva thinks we’re following his script, the longer it will take him to react to the genuine breach.”
Parck frowned. “Following his /script?”/
“Of course,” Thrawn said, frowning as if it was obvious. “Why else did you think I let him arrange the art in the Dwelling of Guests and then make it sound like I needed to see it? I wanted him to think that he’d manipulated our operation and had it under his control.”
Parck felt a smile twitch at his lips. He should have known it was something like that. As Thrawn had said, Nuso Esva understood him. Or thought he did. “When do you plan to leave his script?”
“Right now.” Thrawn pointed at the tac board. “The fourteenth loudspeaker has just been located.” He keyed his comm. “Commander Fel, you may begin your run. Good luck.”
“Acknowledged,” Fel said, baring his teeth in a tight smile. Finally. “Gray Squadron, into your positions. Stent, on me.”
He swung his TIE around, listening with half an ear to the chorus of acknowledgments from his pilots as he eyed the cityscape below. Considering some of the traps Nuso Esva had set in the past, he reflected, this one was almost simple. A single opening in the umbrella shield coverage, apparently there by accident, big enough for a TIE fighter to slip through if it came in at just the right vector. And on the same vector, a heavy twin-barreled laser cannon lurking in concealment, ready to blow apart an unwary pilot.
But as was also typical of Nuso Esva, the laser cannon wasn’t there solely to seal the flytrap. The TIE pilots had had plenty of time to map the shields and weapons emplacements in that zone, and Fel had spotted at least eight other, smaller openings in the barrier nearby that the lasers could fire through.
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