But that repayment will occur in the context of our overall strategy. 'The fortunes of war rise and fall, and you may be assured that the Rebellion will be repaid in full for their destruction of thePeremptory at theKatana fleet skirmish. 'Never forget that, Captain,' Thrawn warned him. Not to the dead.'īrandei was still glowering, but he gave a dutiful nod. 'My duty is to the Empire, and to you, and to the ships and crews under my command.' Slowly, reluctantly, some of the fire faded from Brandei's face. Thrawn's blue-black eyebrows lifted slightly. 'I understand my duty, Admiral,' Brandei said stiffly. 'Not an opportunity for personal revenge.' 'This is war, Captain Brandei,' Thrawn said, coming up silently to Pellaeon's side. It was the expression of a man out for blood. Quarter-sized holos didn't show a lot of detail, but even so the expression on Brandei's face was easy to read. 'We're ready,Chimaera ,' Captain Brandei said, his voice soft. 'Acknowledged,' Captain Dorja said, cupping his right fist in his left in an ancient Mirshaf gesture of victory as he, too, vanished from the hologram pod. Pellaeon shifted his attention to the next image in line. The holo image sputtered and vanished as theBellicose raised its deflector shields, cutting off long-range communications. 'Acknowledged,Chimaera ,' Captain Aban nodded, his proper military demeanor not quite masking his eagerness to take this war back to the Rebellion. 'Gentlemen: launch marks.Bellicose : three minutes.' 'Yes, sir,' Pellaeon said, turning back to the group of one-quarter-size holographic figures standing before him in theChimaera 's aft bridge hologram pod. 'Begin the countdown,' he told Pellaeon, his voice as calm as if he were ordering dinner. After nearly a month of frenzied preparations, Thrawn's master campaign for the Empire's final victory was about to be launched.īut if the Grand Admiral was feeling any tension, he was keeping it to himself. This was not just another tactical strike against the Rebellion, after all-not a minor shipping raid or even a complex but straightforward hit-and-fade against some insignificant planetary base. The stress he himself was certainly feeling. 'Sir?' Pellaeon said, searching his superior's face for the stress the Grand Admiral must be feeling. 'Very good, Lieutenant,' Grand Admiral Thrawn nodded. 'The task force is beginning to check in.' 'All systems show battle ready, Admiral,' the comm officer reported from the portside crew pit. Gliding through the blackness of deep space, the Imperial Star DestroyerChimaera pointed its mighty arrowhead shape toward the dim star of its target system, three thousandths of a light-year away.

The last command timothy zahn