Thrawn Ascendancy Book 3: Lesser Evil

And as the acid burned into the hull, destroying sensor nodes and missile targeting systems and digging blackened pits into the metal, the Vigilant’s lasers once again opened fire, blazing into the ragged surface and digging even deeper through the hull.

Fifteen seconds into the barrage, the Vigilant’s laserfire burned away enough of the hull to reach the patrol cruiser’s remaining missiles, and the warship disintegrated in a violent explosion.

“Full acceleration,” Ar’alani ordered. “And keep scanning. If there’s anything else out there, I want to know before it starts shooting at us.”

Wutroow stepped closer to the command chair as the Vigilant leapt forward toward the wrecked base and the remaining three ships. “Nicely done, Admiral,” she said quietly. “I’ll just point out what the number-squinters on Csilla will probably say: that we could have cut and run and saved the Ascendancy a couple of breachers.”

“What, run away from a patrol cruiser and a couple of patrol ships?” Ar’alani scoffed. “We’d never have heard the end of it.”

Wutroow shrugged. “There’s that, of course.”

“More important, we’d have lost the chance to see what they’re doing over there,” Ar’alani continued, nodding toward the distant station.

“Unless … no,” Wutroow said. “I was thinking an in-system jump, but it would have been dangerous with all the wreckage floating around. So what are they doing?”

“That’s what I want to find out,” Ar’alani said, studying the tactical. Bogeys Two and Three were still coming toward the Vigilant, still firing useless laser blasts. But they were moving almost leisurely, as if not wanting to bring things to a head any sooner than they had to. Meanwhile, the repair dock was still floating close beside the wrecked station.

Were they getting their people out? Or were they—?

And suddenly Ar’alani understood.

They weren’t getting anything out. They were putting something in.

“Spheres—target the station,” she snapped. “Saturation volley, and keep going until we’re dry.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Oeskym said.

“Admiral?” Wutroow asked quietly as the launchers began spitting plasma spheres toward the distant station. “The station, not the patrol ships?”

“Yes,” Ar’alani said. “All that laserfire is their way of hiding what the people from the repair dock are doing at the station.”

“Which is?”

“I think they’re planning to destroy it,” Ar’alani said grimly. “Not just wreck it, like the original attack did, but completely disintegrate it.”

“Interesting,” Wutroow muttered. “Must be something in there they really don’t want us to see. Though I’d have sworn we checked out the place pretty thoroughly our last time through.”

“Maybe something new has been added,” Ar’alani said. “I’m hoping we can hit and scramble whatever self-destruct devices they’ve put in before they detonate.”

“Well, if we can’t, it won’t be through lack of effort,” Wutroow said, nodding at the stream of plasma spheres still racing away from the Vigilant. “You sure you don’t want to keep a few back in case they decide to make a real fight of it?”

“They won’t,” Ar’alani said. “As soon as the sabotage is finished, they’ll all be out of—and there they go,” she interrupted herself as the two patrol ships veered off in opposite directions, angling away from the Vigilant. Behind them, the repair dock was now turning and driving away from the station.

“Orders, Admiral?” Oeskym asked from the weapons station.

Ar’alani checked the displays. The Vigilant had covered a lot of distance toward the station in the past few minutes, but they were still too far for a decent shot. But it wouldn’t hurt to try. “See what you can do with the repair dock,” she said. “Lasers only—keep the spheres saturating the station.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Oeskym said, and a triple blast of concentrated laserfire joined the stream of plasma spheres.

Ar’alani considered Oeskym one of the best weapons officers in the Expansionary Defense Fleet, and he did his best. Even at their marginal range, he managed to get three clean hits on the repair dock as it moved clear of the station.

But they were too far out for any significant damage. A minute later, the dock and both patrol ships escaped into hyperspace.

“Sorry, Admiral,” Oeskym apologized as the laserfire ceased.

“Not your fault,” Ar’alani assured him as the plasma sphere launchers also went silent. “The priority now is to get to the station and dismantle or destroy whatever bomb or bombs they put aboard before they can wake up. Wutroow, get two shuttles prepped and loaded.”