Ten years, five months, and thirteen days after the Battle of Yavin…
Or the forty-fifth year, fifth month, and thirteenth day after the Great Resynchronization.
(One year, one month, and twenty-eighth days since the Arrival.)
"By the Emperor's black bones!"
General Kota's exclamation accompanied the simultaneous interruption of the hyperspace jump.
The large numbers on the navigation computer indicated there was still some time to fly, but the flight's termination showed the enemy was acting exactly as Kota himself had assumed.
Rahm had seen through the trap with the cloaked starship, most obviously an Executor-class Super Star Destroyer.
And he fully expected the enemy to at least suspect an attack was planned on their base at Makem Te.
Whether Amond had been exposed or not was a separate question.
And if you used your head and applied logic, an attack on Makem Te made perfect sense.
One way or another, Pellaeon turned out not to be as stupid as Bel Iblis had predicted when he sent Kota on this mission.
The general's strategy was built on three possible scenarios.
First: Amond's raid remained secret, and the enemy had no information about what awaited them.
Second: The enemy had information about the attack and would try to catch the attacking fleet in a pincer movement between defensive stations and their own fleet.
Third: Everything same as the previous scenario, but the enemy would deliberately pull the fleet out of hyperspace to avoid leaving enemy starships in their rear and would prefer to meet the attackers with a single defensive line.
Which would include defensive stations, ships, and everything they had that Ro'Amond had discovered.
And as soon as Kota's fleet got bogged down in those battles, the enemy would bring their cloaked Executor into their rear and try to crush the Galactic Alliance fleet with their own "pincers."
And for this scenario, considering the Dominion's love for cutting communication lines, Rahm had his own trump card.
True, credit had to be given to the enemy — they weren't slouches either, and their actions clearly demonstrated that the enemy not only knew or suspected the attack, but had also prepared well for active defense.
The Galactic Alliance ships had barely exited hyperspace, the accumulated radiation had hardly begun to dissipate from their hulls.
Blind and defenseless, the ships could only watch as three Interdictor-class Star Destroyers, having completed their task of pulling Kota's forces out of hyperspace, began their turn, pounding the lead ships with unexpectedly dense turbolaser and ion fire.
Now, having done their job, these ships were falling back to the Dominion's line.
The Alliance starships found themselves far from Makem Te's orbit, and before them loomed a Dominion fleet ready for battle.
The interdictor destroyers were only a small part of the forces positioned in this area, whose task was to prevent the Galactic Alliance's plans from being realized.
The Mk-II assault frigates at the forefront took the fire on their sturdy hulls, slowly advancing with the vanguard, returning fire — though not very accurately.
Some ships already showed scorch marks and breaches caused by the retreating Interdictors, which had turned their nozzles toward the attackers and were pouring fire on them…
"Sir, we're receiving a surrender offer from the Dominion ships," the commander of the Tatooine informed him.
"Surrendering so quickly?" Rahm wondered.
Judging by the emotional burst that flickered in the subordinate's emotional aura, his guess was far from the truth.
And so it was.
"Not them, General," clarified the commander of the battlecruiser moving in the heart of the Alliance ship formation. "They're offering for US to surrender. 'To avoid dying in vain and leaving your wives widows, your children orphans, we suggest you shut down your engines and…'"
Mk-II Assault Frigate.
"Don't need to hear the rest," Rahm cut him off, watching as the concentrated fire from the retreating Interdictors tore apart an old Marauder-class corvette on reconnaissance duty.
Marauder-class Corvette.
That starship, along with several others like it, had been brought into the Alliance by Kota, along with Juno and Galen, when he learned that the "old guard" had finally broken with clean-handed politicians like Borsk Fey'lya.
Though calling him "clean-handed" would be very, very difficult, given his nasty character and enormous ambitions.
However…
Wasn't it too surreal that an old ship, but still, was destroyed so quickly by Interdictors?
And during a retreat, no less.
Since when did ships of that type have turrets capable of firing while retreating?
The next moment, General Kota no longer had time to find an answer to that question.
One of the assault frigates instantly turned into a supernova, hitting the surrounding ships with a cloud of debris.
Rahm first thought the Force had failed him.
But no.
The life lights that had been on that ship's decks simply vanished.
Destroyed by explosions, dying from lack of oxygen, or killed by twisted structures — sentients were dying.
"What happened?" Rahm didn't understand.
The answer came in the destruction of yet another assault frigate.
Like the first, it literally vaporized, and the Force echoed through the Jedi with pain and a sense of death.
Third, fourth, fifth…
"The vanguard is under attack by enemy bombers!" the bridge reported.
"From which ship were they launched?" the general demanded.
"From none, sir," the sensor operator replied absently. "It appears the enemy bombers were in our exit zone with no signs of energy, then they attacked the ships."
Rahm didn't need to turn his head to "see" his interlocutor.
He could already feel his confusion and the flurry of questions tormenting the young Twi'lek's mind.
Rahm Kota had allowed that the enemy might expect an attack.
And that Ro'Amond's ship might have been followed to identify the Galactic Alliance fleet's base of operations.
That's why he had spent a full day conducting maneuvers to confuse any possible observers about his course and destination.
Yes, the enemy could know they would be attacked.
They could have prepared for it.
But what in the name of Sith⁈
How, in the Force's name, had they managed to learn the exact course of the first group, led by Kota, if it had been chosen only an hour ago after numerous revisions⁈
A very unpleasant feeling stirred in the Jedi's soul that he had just stumbled into a foul-smelling mess.
A very foul-smelling mess…
By the time the radiation cleared from the ships, the enemy bombers had managed to destroy nine of the ten assault cruisers in the vanguard.
The general, shuddering, opened himself to the Force.
Time to fundamentally change the rules of the game.
The best way to kill a predator is to go for the head.
What difference did it make if he attacked the Executor before or after dealing with the Dominion fleet?
Kota expanded his perception.
Drenched in sweat, he reached out to the Force more and more, feeling his body groan from the amount of energy flowing through him…
Once, twice, three times…
Finally, exhausted and covered in sweat, the Jedi slumped defeatedly into his chair.
No matter how hard he tried to detect the cloaked Super Star Destroyer near his fleet, he couldn't manage it…
Only thousands and thousands of sentients aboard his own fleet.
So…
Was the Super Star Destroyer he'd assumed wasn't even here⁈
What the hell was going on here⁈
"Sir, what are your orders?"
"We proceed with the simplest plan," General Kota gritted through his teeth. "Destroy every enemy we see before us with crossfire from the nearest ships. Launch fighters — have the E-wings deal with those bombers immediately. They've jammed communications, haven't they?"
"Yes, sir. Both short and long range are blocked by interference."
"Send runners to the Gravstrikes," General Kota chuckled, turning over a fresh plan in his head. "And contact the second group. It's time for them to enter the battle."
Wherever Pellaeon was hiding, he'd come out when he realized his fleet would be ground down ship by ship.
And then the trap would snap shut.
* * *
"We have company," Alex's voice announced over the comlink. "Three E-wings approaching on course two nine three point two zero."
Captain Bren threw a quick glance at the scanner panel.
Indeed — three contacts were on his tail.
While the Scimitar-01 maneuvered, pulling out of the debris field left by the tenth destroyed assault frigate, the enemy, moving through open space, clearly intended to cut them off on exit and block them, or force a fight.
"It looks like the whole squadron has picked up tails," Alex said thoughtfully. "They've let the E-wings off the leash."
Yes, it was so.
The E-wings, vaguely resembling X-wings with unopened foils, which earned them their nickname, had fallen upon the fast bombers of the Scimitar squadron.
Tomax increased the Scimitar's speed, banked it to port, and switched the laser cannons to high rate of fire.
Though this would reduce the charge in the energy buffer, a burst from such shots could instantly shred an enemy's deflector and force the brand-new enemy fighters to retreat.
And the enemy had plenty of them, no need to search for a target.
A pity the TIE Interceptors weren't here — they were too tempting a target for E-wings.
But no one promised an easy stroll here.
The captain locked onto an enemy starfighter streaking past him.
Bomb bay empty, otherwise the conflict would have been resolved very, very quickly without extra flying maneuvers.
Now, though…
Tomax adjusted the bomber's attitude to pass by an engine debris fragment.
… they'd have to work a bit.
Scimitar-01 fell in behind the enemy fighter.
A burst from the paired laser cannons seemed for a moment to connect both ships with green beams.
Two shots licked the rear deflector.
Four more brought it down completely.
The enemy craft began to bank to port, pulling out of the line of fire.
Two shots missed, but the last ones caught the starboard main engine.
The E-wing started spinning in place.
Tomax timed it and fired another burst.
The first shots pierced the cockpit clean through, the other two sheared off the starboard wing mount.
The foil flew off in a fountain of sparks, and the remaining part of the craft, spinning slowly, flew off toward the outer edge of the system.
Scimitar-01 had already left the destroyed craft behind when Alex reported that two ships were still chasing them.
Instruments signaled the rear laser turret was active.
The destroyed craft exploded into pieces, forcing both pursuers to scatter.
Alex caught one of them and gutted the E-wing, blasting it with the rear rapid-fire cannon.
"Bank left, Commander," the flight engineer's voice sounded in Tomax's earphones. "I'll finish the last one."
"We're withdrawing, not fighting," Bren objected, seeing his craft had reached open space.
Along with ten other Scimitars from his squadron — they had lost one ship.
The E-wings kept their distance but hadn't lost their desire to finish off the fast bombers.
Still, their number had been reduced by six, not counting the three fighters Bren's crew had shot down.
Nine starfighters lost for one bomber — in the past, TIE bomber pilots could only dream of such a ratio in their most optimistic fantasies.
But twenty-seven E-wings from the three squadrons the enemy had sent after them still remained.
Considering the enemy fleet wasn't paying attention to this local skirmish, having changed course and moved fifty units away from the vanguard's destruction site, life now — both theirs and their pursuers' depended entirely on the Dominion pilots themselves.
"Prepare for a micro-jump to point three-four-seven," the squadron commander ordered his subordinates.
He clicked several switches on the emergency section of the instrument panel.
"An emergency beacon?" Alex was astonished.
He had to wait for an answer until the micro-jump was complete and the Scimitars found themselves a hundred standard units from the site of their triumph in this battle.
"The very same," Bren explained, setting course for the nearest Golan-III orbital defense station, where rotation was scheduled. "The boys in the TIE Avengers need precise coordinates for the jump."
"Hold on," the flight engineer perked up, judging by his enthusiastic voice, "are you telling me we lured almost two squadrons of E-wings into a slaughter with our boys on Avengers?"
"Exactly," confirmed Captain Tomax Bren. "The Crabs are going to have a blast right now."
A small tactical trick that the Scimitar squadron commander had proposed to the clone filling in for Major Kreb.
As part of the overall strategy, the Scimitars had struck the enemy, forcing the enemy commander to divert part of his fighter forces, superior to the Dominion's main small craft — the TIE Interceptors — away from the main mass, where the Alliance fleet's gunners could support them with precision fire.
And while the isolated enemy pilots were trying to figure out what was going on and where their targets had gone, Major Kreb's clones on TIE Avengers would come to "visit" them.
Using their own hyperdrives and the emergency beacon, they would make micro-jumps and eliminate two full squadrons of E-wings before the enemy even engaged in the main part of the battle.
Yes, in the context of the overall battle, this was just a drop in the ocean — the enemy had ten Home One-class star cruisers alone, which could carry large air groups in their bays.
Not to mention the Quasar Fire-class escort carriers the enemy had…
The only problem was that the Dominion's Scimitar squadron wasn't the only one flying Scimitars.
The problem, as usual, wasn't the Dominion's, naturally.
* * *
"The enemy fleet is changing course," the Guardian's commander intoned, beginning to get nervous from the Supreme Commander's silence.
"Thank you, Captain," Thrawn replied, continuing to stroke the ysalamiri and look at the holographic terminal. "I noticed."
The volumetric projection showed changes in the tactics chosen by General Kota.
Instead of moving into the center of the blocking formation, having lost three old Marauders, ten assault frigates, and three squadrons of the newest starfighters in ten minutes of battle, he decided to try something new.
"Sometimes I even regret that the Alliance leadership cannot see the root of all problems," Thrawn said unexpectedly. "We could have come to an agreement, united…"
"Sir, as I recall, you've already tried extending a hand of friendship to them," the Guardian's commander searched his memory (not his own, but the genetic original's). "You laid everything out for them clearly. They themselves rejected the proposed alliance in favor of their own political ambitions."
"Yes, and that is sad," a slight sadness crept into Thrawn's voice. "Because due to the blindness of politicians, talented military commanders are doomed — commanders who would have served them well in the fight against Palpatine and the Yuuzhan Vong. Instead, they throw them into the meat grinder of war with the Dominion. A mad, absurd tactic, dictated solely by their own ambitions and desire to hold on to slipping power. Ironically, this battle underscores the truth of the saying: 'The stupider the politicians, the more they wage war with other people's lives.' Unfortunately, General Kota's talent will perish in this battle. And only so that Mon Mothma can further ramp up Dominion-phobia in the Galactic Alliance Congress."
"Talent, sir?" Pellaeon clarified.
"Yes," Thrawn agreed. "Don't you see, Captain? All this time using the half-bowl tactic, only General Kota has devised countermeasures capable of collapsing the entire effectiveness of the formation. And in the long run — not only deny us the advantage, but also harm us."
The commander of the Guardian frowned, looking at the hologram.
The Dominants, which the enemy still identified as Imperial Interdictors, had already pulled back behind the formation of the Dominion's main Star Destroyers, which, along with Avenger‑class heavy cruisers, formed that very half-bowl designed to oppose the entire invasion front of Kota's First Detachment.
Now, after losing a fifth of his ships, the Jedi General abruptly changed course and directed his ships toward the right flank of the Dominion formation, currently at a distance of forty-five units from the outermost Dominion ship on the right semicircle.
And by all possible means he pressed the Star Destroyer Implacable.
The former "junk" starship — once belonging to a supporter of Warlord Zsinj, Admiral Trigit, destroyed in battle with the New Republic in the Corporate Sector a couple of years ago near the planet Ession, and later restored by another Imperial, Ennix Devian — held its own against three Home Ones.
The ship had undergone modernization, and now it surprised not only with its firepower but also with its defense — which didn't collapse but degraded more slowly than one would expect from concentrated fire from three enemy star cruisers.
A fierce battle between enemy fighters and Dominion interceptors raged near the ship, but Thrawn was clearly not talking about that.
The commander of the Guardian noticed two medium cruisers of the Strike‑class, with significant design differences.
These starships held position in the upper echelon relative to the half-bowl's right flank that was under attack.
Their hulls were aimed at the Implacable, which allowed them not only to fire from their few cannons, but also to...
Oh, the Emperor's black bones!
These ships are now...
"Kota is reorganizing the fleet right in the middle of the battle, showing that he wants to pressure our right flank," Pellaeon voiced his observations. "However... Only half of the ships — Home One‑class star cruisers, MC90s, escort carriers — are involved in this. The rest... He is dividing his forces into two detachments."
"Yes, that's the obvious solution," said Thrawn. "To attack the enemy's smaller forces, which he could catch between two fires and destroy with fire from two directions. That tactic would be successful if Kota used the Ackbar Slash and cut off part of our half-bowl to encircle and destroy it. But he intends to do something completely different."
"He clearly intends to put our right flank in a crossfire," muttered Pellaeon. "But... it would be easier for him to change the echelons for some of the ships and thus..."
"Take a closer look at the Strikes," Thrawn advised in an emotionless tone, typing something on his datapad and handing it to the duty officer in response to operational data from the battle. "Isn't it an elegant solution to the problem of the shortage of interdictors and minesweepers?"
The commander of the Guardian cursed mentally.
"Loronar Corporation," he hissed through his teeth.
"And an alliance with Lady Santhe's heir," prompted Thrawn. "I must note that the idea is fairly simple. And at the same time detrimental to the crews of those starships in terms of combat effectiveness and survivability. Turning a medium cruiser into a minesweeper cruiser... That is risky."
Minesweepers, like interdictor Star Destroyers, were effective as carriers of gravity well generators primarily because they had excess energy.
A solar ionization generator is the power of stars in human hands, providing necessary energy to defense systems and powering four gravity domes.
Yes, sometimes even that wasn't enough for the minesweepers to move during trawl activation.
The same was observed now with the ersatz minesweepers.
Their deflector shields disappeared. The guns fell silent. Even the engine power seemed to drop. The starships were essentially defenseless against a quick strike.
But Kota had clearly accounted for the fact that the Dominion has fast bombers.
He threw nearly half of his remaining fighters to defend the ersatz minesweepers.
Yes, the Scimitars won't be able to break through to the target under such conditions — instead of free space near the cruisers, there are only fast-moving targets the size of E-wings.
The Force or logic — something clearly told General Kota that the Scimitars cannot materialize anywhere, but require a straight course free of obstacles.
But he was clearly ready to tolerate even the fact that the Scimitars kept showering his star cruisers in both detachments with avalanches of proton torpedoes, mangling the ships and stripping them of their armament.
Medium minesweeper cruiser Gravstrike of the Galactic Alliance.
"But they are low-power due to the lack of a solar ionization reactor!" exclaimed Pellaeon.
And that energy source was exactly what the enemy's ersatz minesweepers lacked.
"And they don't need full-fledged minesweepers," declared Thrawn. "At least not for executing the maneuver Kota has in mind."
Pellaeon stared at the tactical display for a few more seconds, then closed his eyes and exhaled. He understood.
"They'll put the Implacable in a crossfire using their minesweepers," he said.
"Yes," Thrawn agreed. "A maneuver involving changing echelons and closing in would take a lot of time. But using artificial gravity vectors to precisely perform a microjump and bring out the second part of his fleet on the right flank of the Implacable, while Kota himself with half the detachment continues to press from the left — that is many times faster."
"Should I order to engage?" clarified the commander of the Guardian, ready at any moment to command joining the battle.
"The situation is dangerous but not critical. Besides," he pointed to the ongoing reformation among the Dominion ships, "Vice Admiral Mor has already figured out his maneuver and is executing his own countermeasures."
And indeed. The Star Destroyers and heavy cruisers from the left flank of the Dominion's half-bowl had already begun to move, aiming their wedge-shaped hulls toward the enemy fleet.
At the same time, a trio of Dominants started maneuvering.
It seemed that Mor intended to do exactly the same as Kota — transfer part of his forces to the other flank.
"Sir, but the Implacable will sustain significant damage!" warned Pellaeon to the Supreme.
"Of course it will," Thrawn agreed. "As will the nearest starships. If we allow Vice Admiral to activate the gravity trawls — the enemy will inflict critical damage on our ships. Not only the Implacable, but also those ships that come to its aid as a result of this maneuver."
The commander of the Guardian frowned. He did not understand at all how the enemy could pull that off.
After all, Mor is not a fool — he will set the vectors so that the transferred forces are as close as possible to the attacked starships.
Thus the reinforcements will be protected from harmful fire by the armor and shields of the Implacable and other ships.
And while the radiation dissipates from the hulls in seconds, the enemy will not be able to cause serious harm... Unless...
"Oh, the Emperor's black bones!" whispered Pellaeon. "Sir, Vice Admiral must be stopped urgently! If he deploys the artificial gravity projectors, his ships will jump along the vectors and end up at blaster range of the Implacable and its escort!"
"Exactly, Captain," Thrawn was smiling for some reason, which made the commander of the Guardian shudder. "As I said — it's a pity to destroy such a genius. But it would be an irreparable mistake to let him live."
* * *
General Kota listened intently to the Force.
For some reason, no matter how much he listened to the energy that permeated the entire universe, he could not detect the enemy's disposition.
Not the slightest response about their intentions.
As if the enemy commanders felt no emotions or desire to finish off the Alliance.
As if they were some kind of machines... But no, the Force insisted that there were living beings on the enemy ships.
Focused, not panicking, hardly reacting where an ordinary being would have already begun to doubt and erupt with emotions of all shades...
That can't be. Ordinary beings cannot react like that.
Maybe it's because some of their ships seem torn from the Force and appear as something unattainable?
Like black holes in the Force where the superstructures, engines, battery decks, hangars should be...
Something very, very strange. Inaccessible areas in the Force? That doesn't happen!
Beings that act as if all emotions were drained from them and they only follow orders like droids — that also doesn't...
Kota felt his mouth go dry.
Droids? Yes, the Dominion has already become famous for using the legacy of the CIS from the Clone Wars.
But now... It seems Thrawn or Pellaeon dug up another relic from thirty years ago.
"Meat droids." Clones.
A shiver ran down his spine.
Knowing no fear, never fleeing battle, never disobeying orders, striving for creative interpretation and execution of assigned tasks.
Emperor Palpatine's weapon that doomed the Jedi Order now serves the Dominion!
Kota felt a slight panic.
These can't be clones from the war of the same name. They aged long ago and died due to the Empire's neglectful treatment of them!
Yes, out of those millions and billions created, some should have survived to this day, but still!
Not in such numbers!
Kota somehow doubted that Pellaeon had only one squadron stuffed to the brim with clones.
No matter how much he reached out to the Force now, he felt a slight dizziness, long forgotten...
The identity of minds, which made him sick thirty years ago when he was a general in the Grand Army of the Republic.
Identical pilots. Identical crew members. And not just one template!
Kota, digging deeper and deeper into the Force, felt that some groups of beings differed from others.
Interceptor pilots — one group. Bomber pilots — another. Pilots of assault gunships that just brought down shields with a massive missile strike and battered one of the Homes — a third.
On the ships, he could even identify hundreds of different repeating groups of clones.
This is certainly not Jango Fett's legacy! These are not relics from the Clone Wars!
The Empire has again begun producing "meat droids" on an industrial scale!
And yet Bel Iblis and Mon Mothma were sure that even with the capture of so many starships at Sluis Van, having lost a considerable number of their own ships, the Dominion would not be able to use the fresh trophies!
Because it would either have to put yesterday's green conscripts and draftees at the controls, or postpone commissioning hundreds of Star Destroyers until the recruited crews undergo at least minimal training.
Bel Iblis calculated that they had time until the end of the current year before Pellaeon dared new conquests and large-scale attacks in Thrawn's style.
And yet it turns out everything has already begun! It started long before all this!
Clones from Kamino take no less than ten years to mature!
Yes, there were also some "fast-grown clones" that are mentally unstable, but what does the Empire care who dies from the weapons of those fighting for freedom and democracy⁈
Mentally healthy or insane — they will all die.
Kota tore at the collar of his clothing, feeling he was suffocating.
No, no, no, this simply cannot be.
A clone army. Again. Now.
Hutt's Thrawn! It was clearly he who started producing clones a year ago, and now they have matured and before they go insane, Pellaeon is using them against the Dominion's enemies!
Sith seed! He must destroy them all! Here! Now! Immediately!
"Sir," came the voice of the commander of the Tatooine to him. "The enemy has deployed gravity trawls!"
"What?" Rahm muttered absently, but immediately channeled the Force through himself, clearing his mind.
To the Hutt with clones, Pellaeon and Thrawn. That will be decided after he wins at Makem Te and gives the Alliance the needed respite and a propaganda cause.
But first, he must win.
"The enemy ships are reforming," echoed the star cruiser commander's thoughts.
He looked at the tactical layout of the Dominion fleet displayed on the holographic terminal.
The Dominion's half-bowl had split. The right flank, which Kota's star cruisers were pressing, was firing back desperately.
The Star Destroyers showed astonishing survivability coupled with overwhelming firepower.
And the proton torpedoes and anti-ship missiles they keep launching... That is clearly something new.
But Rahm would deal with that after the battle. For now...
The enemy's left flank was clearly crumbling.
The Dominion commander, as Kota had predicted, had broken the holding formation and repositioned the interdictor Star Destroyers.
Yes, exactly right. The enemy had clearly seen the Gravstrike minesweeper cruisers that Kota had so advantageously shown him.
The false impression that he was deploying gravity trawls to transfer the second part of his detachment to the flank of the already attacked Dominion ships forced the enemy to repeat this maneuver.
According to the enemy commander's plan, as soon as Kota — using one part of his forces to bombard the Dominion's right flank — extended gravity vectors to bring the second part of his detachment to the left of the indestructible Star Destroyer, he himself would repeat the same maneuver, but from the right.
And thus two lines of warships would form on each side.
Kota smiled, seeing that the enemy commander had set the vectors for deploying his ships exactly as he had wanted.
Yes, he intended to bring reinforcements into battle. And for that he used his own interdictor cruisers. But there is a nuance.
He is not going to send the second part of his detachment on a jump to attack an already fired-upon enemy ship. Instead, he will use his opponent's gravity trawls. To bring the reinforcements right alongside the ships of his transferred fleet group.
They will converge at blaster range. But by the time the enemy emerges from the jump, Kota's ships will have already restored their shields. The Dominion's, however, will not.
The defensive stations will cause them some trouble, but they will be at a distance of seventy-five units, turning their turbolasers into useless toys. They won't even dent the shields or scratch the paint.
Whereas Kota's starships will operate in far more favorable conditions and at ranges where even a blind gunner couldn't miss.
Whether they destroy the enemy ships with the first volleys of their guns or not doesn't matter. Most likely the latter — Star Destroyers and heavy cruisers are too tough "nuts."
But the Alliance gunners will inflict irreparable damage on the Dominion starships. All their power, all their defense will be nullified for a few standard seconds.
Quite enough to inflict maximum damage with several full fleet broadsides.
And by the time his second detachment, for which he sent a messenger ship, arrives at the battlefield and is pulled out of hyperspace by his minesweeper cruisers' gravity trawls, the Dominion forces will find themselves in a fire bag.
Today the Galactic Alliance will destroy the enemy on its own territory in one fell swoop.
Kota opened himself to the Force, trying to peer into the near future to understand, to realize...
Unfortunately, this again proved not as easy as before, when there were no these black zones in the Force.
There was little clarity, but he caught the right moment.
The enemy commander may be hidden from him and the Force, but the distant emotional echo of the clones, who are about to join the battle, speaks for itself.
"Jump!" he commanded.
The time has come to take revenge on the Dominion for... For everything!