Thrawn Ascendancy Book I: Chaos Rising

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Insight. In the end, Ar’alani mused, that was what it came down to. Analysis followed, then extrapolation and countermove. Those were what made a successful military campaign. But it all started with insight.

And if the insight was in error, the rest collapsed like an ice bridge over a bonfire.

Thrawn claimed to understand Yiv. He claimed to understand the Vaks.

But he’d also thought he understood the Lioaoi and the Garwians. His failure there had stirred up old animosities and political conflicts, had gotten a bunch of aliens killed, and had put the Ascendancy in the middle with dirt on its hands. If he was wrong this time, there would be more deaths.

Only this time, many of the dead would be Chiss.

There was a movement to her left, and she looked up to see Wutroow come to a stop beside the command chair. “Breakout in five minutes,” the Vigilant’s first officer reported. “All systems and stations report ready.”

“Thank you, Senior Captain,” Ar’alani said. “Anything else?”

Wutroow pursed her lips. “I trust you realize, Admiral, that we’re walking on splintered eggs here. We only have Senior Captain Thrawn’s assumption that the Vaks haven’t completely gone over to the Nikardun side. If they have, we’re going to end up fighting both of them. And unless the Vaks attack us directly, we have no authorization whatsoever to fire on them.”

“It gets worse,” Ar’alani warned, thinking back to the Lioaoi fighters she and Thrawn had seen at the Lioaoin heartworld. “If the Vaks have joined Yiv, there may already be Nikardun crews aboard Vak warships. We won’t know for sure who’s who until they open fire.”

“And until then, they can maneuver all they want, play blocker for Nikardun ships, or even range their weapons against us,” Wutroow said darkly. “Until they actually fire, we can’t legally do anything.”

“Well, maybe we’ll get lucky and the Vaks will declare war as soon as they see us coming for them,” Ar’alani said. “That would make things easier.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Wutroow hesitated. “This Republic energy shield Thrawn brought back from the edge of the Chaos. How good is it, really?”

“I don’t know,” Ar’alani admitted. “I was there for some of the tests when they were figuring out how to wire it to Chiss power systems, and it looked pretty impressive. But how strong it is, and how long it’ll last under sustained fire—” She shook her head. “No idea. I suppose we’ll find out.”

“I suppose we will.” Wutroow huffed out a breath. “With your permission, Admiral, I think I’ll run the weapons crews through one final system check. I assume you’ve made arrangements to get sky-walker Ab’begh off the bridge as soon as we arrive at Primea?”

“I’ve assigned two warriors to take her back to the suite,” Ar’alani said. “They’ll stay there with her and her caregiver until the battle’s over.”

“Good idea,” Wutroow said. “Thrawn losing his sky-walker was bad enough. If we got boarded and lost ours, too, we’d never hear the end of it.”

Ar’alani had to smile. “And if that’s the only thing you have to worry about today, Senior Captain, your life must be going remarkably well.”

“Thank you, Admiral,” Wutroow said innocently. “I do my best. With your permission, I’ll get started on that weapons check.”

With a final urging from the Great Presence, and a final twitch of Qilori’s fingers, they arrived.

“Well,” Thrawn commented as Qilori pulled off his sensory-deprivation headset. “I see General Yiv has one final surprise for us.”

Qilori blinked moisture back into his eyes. Standing thirty kilometers off the freighter’s bow was a formation of four massive Battle Dreadnoughts. “Why, did he say he was going to come unarmed, too?” he asked, trying to keep the sudden nervousness out of his voice. That was a lot of military hardware out there, a good half of the force the Nikardun had in this region.

He’d assumed Yiv would be content to just bring the Deathless to the rendezvous. Apparently, the Benevolent had decided to err on the side of caution.

“No, of course I assumed he would bring extra ships,” Thrawn said. “I was referring to the fact that these aren’t the coordinates he sent in his message.”

“They’re not?” Qilori asked, feigning surprise. These were the coordinates Yiv had given to him, but of course Thrawn wasn’t supposed to know that. “I don’t understand. These are the ones you downloaded into the ship’s computer before we left the concourse.”

“Then someone switched them after I handed them to the dispatcher.” Thrawn pointed to the left, where the planet Primea was a small dot in the distance. “We were supposed to come out in a high planetary orbit. Apparently, the general wanted to carry out our transaction in a less conspicuous part of the system.”

He reached to the control board and keyed the comm. “General Yiv, this is Senior Captain Thrawn. I trust my companions are undamaged?”

The comm display lit up. Yiv was seated in his command chair, his shoulder symbionts waving their usual unnerving rhythm. Kneeling on the deck in front of him were his two prisoners. One of them was the female whom Qilori had seen at the Primea diplomatic reception where Thrawn and Yiv had first met, the female he’d heard Thrawn refer to as a family hostage. The other was much younger, possibly not even in her teens, both of them wearing the same grotesque makeup. Whatever this hostage thing was the Chiss were running, it apparently started very young. “See for yourself the shape of your hostages, Captain,” Yiv said, leaning on the word as he waved a casual hand over them. “You have the ransom?”

“I do,” Thrawn said. “The money is in an equipment pod, ready to send to your ship whenever my companions are in a shuttle. The two craft will cross the void together, of course.”

“I’m afraid you misunderstand, Captain,” Yiv said, and Qilori shivered at the smug malice in his tone. “The money isn’t the ransom. You are the ransom.”

“I see,” Thrawn said calmly. If he was surprised by the sudden treachery, it didn’t show in his face or voice. “Do you plan to shoot me down from there?”

“You stole one of my ships and killed one of my crews,” Yiv said, the smugness gone. “For that you’ve automatically earned death at my hand. I’d prefer to bring you aboard the Deathless so I can watch you die, but if you insist I can certainly do it from here.”

“I do not so insist,” Thrawn assured him. “I merely wish to ascertain the parameters of our altered agreement. Do I assume that since the location for our meeting was changed, all the rest of the original provisions are no longer in force?”

“Probably,” Yiv said, the smugness back. With the death sentence now pronounced with the proper harshness, the Benevolent was settling back to enjoy watching his enemy squirm. “Are there any provisions in particular you’d like to revisit?”

“Let me first commend you for your insight in moving the meeting to this spot,” Thrawn said. “I presume you felt Primea orbit would be too public a venue? Especially since you don’t want the Vaks to see how much military force you have in the area?”

“That would hardly be a surprise,” Yiv assured him. “They’ve seen these ships, and more. It’s amazing how the presence of Battle Dreadnoughts can smooth out a round of negotiations.”

“Perhaps in general,” Thrawn said. “Perhaps not with a people like the Vaks. You were also wise enough to stay within the Primea system instead of moving us elsewhere. This way, you can calculate and execute a jump journey over to the planet within a relatively few minutes.”

“I don’t anticipate any reason to hurry over there,” Yiv said. A hint of caution had crept into his voice, Qilori noted with some trepidation of his own. If there was anyone who should be worried about his situation, it was Thrawn. Why was he instead making casual conversation on irrelevant subjects? “Are you expecting the Combine leadership to suddenly need a conversation with me?”

“Not necessarily,” Thrawn said. “You asked which part of our agreement I wanted to revisit.”

“And?”

“Just one provision,” Thrawn said. “The part about me coming to Primea alone.”

The hyperspace swirl became star-flares, then stars, and the Springhawk had arrived.

“Dalvu: Sensor scan,” Samakro ordered, doing a quick visual check of his own. There was a lot of traffic out there, ships of all sizes and styles moving in or out or just orbiting Primea while they awaited their turn. Not surprising for a center of commerce and diplomatic contact, but it was going to make drawing out the enemy that much harder.

Or perhaps even impossible if Thrawn’s analysis of Nikardun ship parameters proved inadequate to the job. If the task force couldn’t pick Yiv’s ships out of the swarm, the mission would be over before it even started.

Leaving Thrawn to face Yiv alone.

“Vigilant has arrived, Mid Captain,” Dalvu announced.

“Acknowledged,” Samakro said, peering out at the Nightdragon that had just appeared in the distance in front of the Springhawk. As he watched, the rest of Ar’alani’s force popped in from hyperspace, the cruisers, destroyers, and missile boats moving quickly into screening formation around her as they arrived. “Kharill, do we have her signal yet?”

“Coming online now, sir,” Kharill confirmed. “Open communication to Primea and all the rest of the force.” There was a double-click—

“Primea Central Command, this is Admiral Ar’alani of the Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet,” Ar’alani identified herself. “May I assume you received the message from my colleague, Senior Captain Thrawn?”

“This is Command,” an official-sounding voice came back promptly. “We did.”

“And have you considered it?”

“We have,” the Vak said. “We wait upon your confirmation of the identities and locations of Nikardun vessels.”

“Acknowledged,” Ar’alani said. “Our officers are gathering that data now.”

“Dalvu?” Samakro prompted. “Seconds count.”

“But so does neatness,” Kharill added.

“Agreed,” Samakro said, fighting back his impatience. The orbiting Nikardun ships were undoubtedly even now reporting to Yiv that a Chiss fleet had arrived and were requesting orders. The longer the sensor analysis took, the more likely Yiv would order an attack and the Nikardun would get in the first shot.

Normally, that would be a good thing, the excuse the Chiss needed to shoot back. In this case, though, that kind of political spit-splitting would be less than useless.

But they had to be careful. Letting a Nikardun slip unidentified beneath their sensor threshold would be bad enough. Inadvertently targeting an innocent ship would be worse. The seconds ticked by…

“Got them, sir,” Dalvu said with clear satisfaction. “I make it thirty-two ships, ranging in size from destroyers to missile boats.”

“Got the Vigilant’s list,” the comm officer put in. “Also Grayshrike’s and Whisperbird’s analyses.”

“All four match,” Dalvu announced. “Repeat: full confirmation ID on thirty-two enemy ships. Deployment pattern…well, well.” She touched a key, and the tagged Nikardun ships came up on the tactical.

“Would you look at that?” Kharill said with feigned surprise. “I’d say that’s a blockade formation.”

“So it is,” Samakro agreed. Deployed that way, probably, in order to keep anyone from wandering out of the regular traffic flow and accidentally blundering into Yiv’s confrontation with Thrawn, wherever it was Yiv had moved it.

But of course, the Vaks wouldn’t know that was the reason.

“Vigilant’s sending the profile to Primea Command,” Kharill reported.

“Good,” Samakro said. “Let’s see if they come to the correct conclusion.”

“They’d better hurry,” Kharill warned. “Yiv can’t possibly be hoping to bully a system like this without a lot more firepower close at hand. I’d prefer we have the chance to take out his bumpers before his bruisers get here.”

“Admiral Ar’alani, this is Command,” the Vak voice came back. “Do I assume from the pattern that we are the object of a Nikardun blockade?”

“I would say so, Command, yes,” Ar’alani confirmed. “Will you hold your defense ships back while we clear it out?”

“That question was also asked by Captain Thrawn,” Command said. “The answer is now decided. We will hold back.”

“Thank you,” Ar’alani said. “Task force, you have your targets. Engage at will.”

“You heard the admiral,” Samakro ordered, tapping ID locks onto the two closest Nikardun ships. “We’ll start with these two. Azmordi, get us moving—flank speed.”

“No,” Yiv said, his eyes focused slightly off to the side. The smugness had vanished completely from his voice, replaced by utter disbelief and a growing anger, his symbionts’ tendrils waving restlessly. “It’s not possible. You’re simply not important enough for the Chiss to send a war fleet to rescue you.”

“You assume this display of Chiss power is because of me,” Thrawn said. “It’s far more likely the Vak Combine itself called for Ascendancy aid.”

“Absurdity begets absurdity,” Yiv scoffed. “The fools would never make a decision like that. They aren’t even close to having all the thought lines they need, let alone to having considered all of them.”

“You misunderstand them, General,” Thrawn said. “That will prove your undoing. Would you like to know what was in the message I sent them?”

“I know what was in the message,” Yiv retorted. “I took it from your hostage.”

“And substituted something far more innocuous,” Thrawn said. “Of course you did. What you failed to realize was that I left another message in the fighter’s computer. Would you like to hear what it said?”

Yiv’s attention jerked back to the comm from whatever he was looking at, a terrible fire blazing in his eyes. “Tell me,” he invited softly.

“ ‘To Primea Command, this is Senior Captain Thrawn,’ ” Thrawn said. “ ‘My companion Thalias has delivered a message to your representative, a copy of which is reproduced below. If it’s the same message as you’ve already received, then all is well, and you may consider my offer at your leisure.

“ ‘However, if you did not, in fact, receive this same message from my companion’s hand, we may conclude that some of your officers and troops have conspired with General Yiv to withhold my message from you. If that is the case, I urge you to consider my offer with all necessary speed. To aid in your decision, I also include data from other systems that have had dealings with the Nikardun, as well as information about a ship full of refugees he murdered. I or my representatives will journey to Primea in the near future to discuss the matter with you.’ ”

Thrawn stopped, and for a long moment Yiv just gazed at him in silence. “Absurdity,” he said at last. “The Vaks won’t move this quickly. They can’t. They consider all thought lines. All thought lines.”

Thrawn shook his head. “No. What they consider—”

“Curse!” Yiv cut him off, his gaze snapping back and forth to unseen displays around him. “No! They can’t be. The Vaks—” He snarled something else, and suddenly the image blanked.

“What’s going on?” Qilori asked, his cheek winglets quivering. Three minutes ago, the Benevolent had had everything completely under control. What in the Depths was happening out there?

“I assume Admiral Ar’alani has finished her negotiations,” Thrawn said, his voice glacially calm, “and that the Vaks have given permission for her to fire on the Nikardun blockade ships.”

“The blockade ships? But—” Qilori strangled off the reflexive protest. Of course a mere Pathfinder hireling wouldn’t know that Yiv’s current plans for Primea didn’t include a blockade. “There’s a blockade?”

“Presumably merely to prevent anyone from blundering into our conversation,” Thrawn said, a little too drily. “But of course the Vaks don’t know that. They see only that by imposing his will on Primea’s commerce, Yiv has denied them important thought lines.”

He turned to Qilori, an odd and discomfiting intensity in those glowing red eyes. “Tell me, Pathfinder. Do you think Yiv will meekly stand by and watch his Primea fleet be destroyed?”

“I don’t know,” Qilori said helplessly. What was he supposed to say? “I suppose it depends on whether he can afford to lose the ships.”

“You offer the wrong question,” Thrawn said. “Of course he can afford to lose the ships. The true question is whether he can allow the Vaks to see him bow to Chiss will and cower before Chiss might.”

“Surely all the ships at Primea are smaller vessels,” Qilori said. “It’s no disgrace to lose small warships to large ones.”

“It is if there are larger ships available and their commander refuses to risk them.”

“Maybe the Vaks don’t know he has bigger ships.”

“Of course they do,” Thrawn chided. “He just said that they did.”

Qilori silently cursed at himself. It had been a stupid, stupid thing to say. “I just meant—”

“But these are just worksheet details,” Thrawn interrupted. “The answer is, no, he can’t afford for Primea to see his weakness.” He nodded toward the viewport. “As you see.”

“As I see?” Qilori repeated, following Thrawn’s gaze. The four Nikardun Battle Dreadnoughts arrayed against them…

Had become just one. The Deathless was still there, its awesome weaponry still turned toward Thrawn’s freighter. But the other three Battle Dreadnoughts were gone.

“That should make the battle a bit more of a challenge,” Thrawn commented, touching the comm switch. “Provided Admiral Ar’alani hasn’t made too much of a mess of the Nikardun blockade ships. General, are you still there?”

“I’m here, Thrawn.” Abruptly, the display lit up again with Yiv’s face.

Only this wasn’t the cheerful, persuasive, charming friend-of-all-peoples face the Benevolent liked to show his would-be conquests. It wasn’t even the quietly menacing face that Qilori had seen on far too many occasions, a face that never failed to send palpitations through his cheek winglets even when the threat wasn’t directed at him.

This face was something new. This face was pure hatred.

“Your people will die for this,” the Nikardun ground out. “Not just you. Not just your pitiable fleet. All the Chiss. The Ascendancy will die, shredded like grain, ground down like stone, burned like withered grass. Every last cub will die…and you will die here and now, with the certain knowledge that you and you alone were the root and cause of their destruction.”

“All because I cost you your foothold on Primea?” Thrawn asked, his voice and face as calm as Yiv’s were malevolent. “Come now, General. You merely need to step away and start over.” His face hardened. “But I suggest you choose a different part of the Chaos for your next attempt. This region will no longer accept your smiles and promises.”

“How little you know, Chiss.”

“Then enlighten me,” Thrawn invited. “Tell me who you serve, or who follows in your wake. If there’s more to know than just the Nikardun, I’m more than willing to listen.”

Yiv’s mouth opened in a smile that was just as bitterly angry as his glare had been. “Then you’ll forever wonder as I send you to your grave.” Deliberately, he looked down at the two females kneeling in front of him. “But before you leave this life, I’ll show you exactly what I have planned for your entire species.”

The Springhawk had just sent its third Nikardun patrol boat into shredded oblivion when the three Battle Dreadnoughts suddenly flashed into view.

“And the bruisers have arrived,” Kharill announced calmly. “Nice microjump, or whatever they did.”

“Looked like an in-system jump,” Azmordi said from the helm. “Shorter and easier than even a micro.”

“Also doesn’t leave enough backtrail to show where it came from,” Dalvu added grimly. “If they came from Yiv, we still don’t know where he is.”

Which meant they couldn’t go to Thrawn’s aid if he needed them, Samakro knew. Thrawn’s life was in his own hands now. If he’d miscalculated any aspect of the plan—if he stumbled on any of the steps—he would likely die out there. So would a lot of Chiss.

And the Springhawk would be in need of a new captain.

Stop it! Samakro ordered himself. Thrawn was his commander, the rightful master of this ship, and Samakro’s job was to do his duty to Ar’alani and the Ascendancy and to return the Springhawk to its master in the best shape he could.

Which was suddenly a more challenging proposition than it had been thirty seconds ago. “Orders, Admiral?” he called.

“We split them up,” Ar’alani said. “Grayshrike, Whisperbird, Stingfly: Take the one to starboard. I’ll take the one to portside. Springhawk, you move on the middle one. Don’t fully engage, just keep it occupied. Everyone else, watch your backs and continue your attrition of the patrol craft.”

“Acknowledged,” Samakro said. So the Springhawk, all alone against a Battle Dreadnought? Terrific.

“At least she’s not expecting us to destroy it outright,” Kharill said drily. “I don’t suppose you have any idea how we keep something that size occupied?”

Samakro smiled. “As a matter of fact,” he said. “I do.”