next. He nodded again at his intelligence chief. “Your reconnaissance drone reports a big droid army down there.”
“Yessir. They seem to have defeated the defense force and have taken the Intergalactic Communications Center, as well. I estimate, from the number of transports on the ground and the quantity of equipment deployed, that the army tops a million battle droids. They mean to stay there awhile, sir.”
“Well, then. They outnumber us. That’s very bad,” Slayke said. “But they’re only droids! That’s good.” More laughter.
“Sir, they have managed to block all communications to and from Praesitlyn,” Slayke’s chief communications officer said. Slayke only nodded. “We have to assume,” the communications officer continued, “the Republic doesn’t know what’s happened. I don’t know how they managed that—it must be new technology. The blasted Trade Federation’s got billions of credits sunk into research, so it’s not unlikely. At least ourcommunications are unaffected, until we get down on Praesitlyn, anyway.”
“Those idiots in the Senate,” Slayke murmured as though to himself, “will lose this war yet.” He leaned with both hands on the edge of the display and focused on the enemy ships around Praesitlyn, bright little blips so numerous that they resembled an asteroid belt around the planet. “We are the only force within striking distance,” he said. “You all know the importance of Praesitlyn to the Republic, to our homeworlds, our friends, our families.” He paused, then said quietly, “Here’s how we’re going to do it.”
Slayke’s fleet was small in comparison to the one he was about to attack, consisting of CloakShape fighters, gun tugs, and
Phoenix Hawk
–class light pinnaces. His capital ships consisted of several
Carrack
-class light cruisers, Corellian corvettes, gunships, and Dreadnaughts. While his ground forces were only fifty thousand strong, they were highly trained, highly motivated, and equipped with armored vehicles, Bespin Motors Storm IV twin-pod military cloud cars, and a full array of supporting arms. The great advantage of this small force was that it was an integrated combined-arms force of infantry, air, armor, and artillery, operating under a carefully thought-out but flexible battle plan. Moreover, Slayke’s commanders were officers whom he trusted completely to take tactical initiatives in fluid battlefield conditions.
A reasonable person might think it utter insanity to use a force as small as Slayke’s to attack Tonith’s army. But Zozridor Slayke was not always a reasonable man.
He turned to his officers and held up his fist. “We goin like this—” He rammed his fist toward the chart. “A huge armored fist. We’ll concentrate all our forces on one sector in their cordon, hit them with everything we’ve got, and blast open a hole to land the army. It’s going to be real hot for our ships in orbit,” he added, nodding at his captains, “but we’ll be counting on you to keep their orbital fleet off balance. Once we’re on the ground we’ll close with the enemy and grab him by the belt, hold him tight. That way his fleet won’t be able to attack us without fear of hitting his own forces. Our initial attack will be a total surprise to him, and it’ll take some time for him to recover. We’ll exploit that surprise and cut right through.” He paused. “We’re about to cross a bridge, and once over, we’re burning it behind us. It’s do or die.”
They all knew that. Once on the ground, Slayke’s army could not be reinforced if things went badly. Failure was just not an option. But Slayke was no overconfident fool.
“I have dispatched a message to Coruscant,” he continued, “requesting reinforcements.” He shrugged. “Perhaps they can spare a Jedi or two.” This also caused laughter: everyone knew how much Slayke despised the Jedi.
“Well, look at it this way, sir,” an officer in the back of the
“Yessir. They seem to have defeated the defense force and have taken the Intergalactic Communications Center, as well. I estimate, from the number of transports on the ground and the quantity of equipment deployed, that the army tops a million battle droids. They mean to stay there awhile, sir.”
“Well, then. They outnumber us. That’s very bad,” Slayke said. “But they’re only droids! That’s good.” More laughter.
“Sir, they have managed to block all communications to and from Praesitlyn,” Slayke’s chief communications officer said. Slayke only nodded. “We have to assume,” the communications officer continued, “the Republic doesn’t know what’s happened. I don’t know how they managed that—it must be new technology. The blasted Trade Federation’s got billions of credits sunk into research, so it’s not unlikely. At least ourcommunications are unaffected, until we get down on Praesitlyn, anyway.”
“Those idiots in the Senate,” Slayke murmured as though to himself, “will lose this war yet.” He leaned with both hands on the edge of the display and focused on the enemy ships around Praesitlyn, bright little blips so numerous that they resembled an asteroid belt around the planet. “We are the only force within striking distance,” he said. “You all know the importance of Praesitlyn to the Republic, to our homeworlds, our friends, our families.” He paused, then said quietly, “Here’s how we’re going to do it.”
Slayke’s fleet was small in comparison to the one he was about to attack, consisting of CloakShape fighters, gun tugs, and
Phoenix Hawk
–class light pinnaces. His capital ships consisted of several
Carrack
-class light cruisers, Corellian corvettes, gunships, and Dreadnaughts. While his ground forces were only fifty thousand strong, they were highly trained, highly motivated, and equipped with armored vehicles, Bespin Motors Storm IV twin-pod military cloud cars, and a full array of supporting arms. The great advantage of this small force was that it was an integrated combined-arms force of infantry, air, armor, and artillery, operating under a carefully thought-out but flexible battle plan. Moreover, Slayke’s commanders were officers whom he trusted completely to take tactical initiatives in fluid battlefield conditions.
A reasonable person might think it utter insanity to use a force as small as Slayke’s to attack Tonith’s army. But Zozridor Slayke was not always a reasonable man.
He turned to his officers and held up his fist. “We goin like this—” He rammed his fist toward the chart. “A huge armored fist. We’ll concentrate all our forces on one sector in their cordon, hit them with everything we’ve got, and blast open a hole to land the army. It’s going to be real hot for our ships in orbit,” he added, nodding at his captains, “but we’ll be counting on you to keep their orbital fleet off balance. Once we’re on the ground we’ll close with the enemy and grab him by the belt, hold him tight. That way his fleet won’t be able to attack us without fear of hitting his own forces. Our initial attack will be a total surprise to him, and it’ll take some time for him to recover. We’ll exploit that surprise and cut right through.” He paused. “We’re about to cross a bridge, and once over, we’re burning it behind us. It’s do or die.”
They all knew that. Once on the ground, Slayke’s army could not be reinforced if things went badly. Failure was just not an option. But Slayke was no overconfident fool.
“I have dispatched a message to Coruscant,” he continued, “requesting reinforcements.” He shrugged. “Perhaps they can spare a Jedi or two.” This also caused laughter: everyone knew how much Slayke despised the Jedi.
“Well, look at it this way, sir,” an officer in the back of the
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