And then each of the alien fighters launched a single missile.
There was a subtle flicker in the indicator lights of theDarkvenge 's computer command board as the starfighters' sensor information was collected, compiled, and analyzed, and the proper response formulated. The response was translated into a hundred updated commands, which were then sorted, encrypted, and transmitted back to the primitive droid brains riding in their armored casings. A sliver of a second later the starfighters responded to those commands with a rain of concentrated laserfire that blew all nine missiles into shrapnel. "A foolish waste of effort," Kav commented. "The range was clearly too great for-"
"Hold it," Doriana said, frowning at the displays. There was something still moving along the shattered missiles' lines of flight, filmy spots of nearly invisible haze that seemed to be growing larger as they sped toward the incoming starfighters. "Call them back," he told Kav urgently.
But it was too late. Even as the alien attack formation abruptly came apart, with all eleven ships shooting off in all different directions, the hazy spots intersected their target starfighter groups. There were multiple flashes of subdued light
"They do not respond!" one of the Neimoidians called from the computer board. "Nine groups of droids have gone silent!"
"Connor nets," Doriana snarled, digging his fingers even harder into the cushion. Nine groups of starfighters, neatly and efficiently knocked out of action.
Out of action, but not out of the fight. Their momentum was still carrying them onward. . and as he watched in helpless fascination, they slammed squarely into other groups that had shifted their own vectors to chase the dispersing aliens. There were more multiple flashes, this cluster much brighter than the last.
And suddenly the gaping hole in the task force's defensive screen no longer had any starfighters left to fill it. "This is impossible," Kav said, his five-cornered hat bobbing as he swung his head back and forth around the bridge. "How can hedo this?"
"Get the rest of the starfighters into space," Doriana ground out. "Now."
Kav didn't need any prompting. "OrderKeeper to activate all remaining droid starfighters," he called. "They will launch when ready. And move all those already launched to intercept."
"Wait a minute," Doriana objected. "You can't leave our other flanks unguarded."
"Against what?" Kav retorted. "Thisis the battlefront. If we do not defend it, there will be no other flanks left to guard." He gestured across the bridge. "Obey my order."
"Here they come," Car'das murmured, wondering if Thrawn had finally sliced off more than he could serve. The Chiss had dispatched those first few groups of droid starfighters with relative ease, but tricks like that only worked once against a given opponent.
And now all the rest of those hundreds of starfighters were sweeping around the flanks of the Trade Federation fleet, heading straight toward them.
Unless that was exactly what Thrawn had been waiting for. Car'das shifted his eyes across the displays, looking for the cruiser that had slipped away from them just before the fighting started. If the main Chiss force was merely a diversion..
But theWhirlwind wasn't charging in from the side for a sucker-punch attack. It was still sitting quietly in space, apparently being held in reserve.
He looked back at the incoming starfighters. "I hope you've got one Great Father of a shock net up your sleeve," he warned.
"We'll certainly have to consider creating such a device if we begin facing opponents like this on a regular basis," Thrawn said drily. "Tell me, what happens to these droids if their communication signals are cut off?"
"If the-? Are you talking aboutjamming? "
"You disapprove?"
"No, of course not," Car'das said. "But Trade Federation command signals are supposed to be unjammable. They can change frequencies and command patterns instantly-the minute you block off one part of the spectrum they just shift to another."
"And if you block the entire spectrum at once?"
Car'das stared at him. The man was serious. "You can't blanket the whole area, Commander," he ground out between clenched teeth. "It's too big. The minute you start, they'll know what you're doing and send a set of contingency orders to everything outside your jamming. Those droid starfighters may not be smart, but they're certainly capable of downloading enough general commands to keep them functioning until they've pounded us to dust."
"Only if there are any starfighters still outside the jamming," Thrawn pointed out. "But it seems our opponent has taken care of that problem for us." He pointed. "Even as we close the distance, he is converging all his starfighters into this one small area."
Car'das stared at the displays. Thrawn was right-the Trade Federation commander had abandoned the rest of his picket area to bring all his starfighters to the attack. Didn't he realize the possible implications of what he was doing? "What about your own communications?" he asked. "If you jam the whole spectrum, you'll be out of touch with your people, too."
"Fortunately, my warriors are capable of more than simply downloading general commands," Thrawn said. "Let's see which side's battle philosophy proves the more versatile." Leaning forward, he took a deep breath. "Full-spectrum jamming: now."
For a long, horrifying second theDarkvenge 's bridge was filled with a screech like something from the restless undead of ancient Coruscant legend. Then the Neimoidian at the comm slapped at the switch, cutting off the wail and leaving only a distant ringing in Doriana's ears. "What in the name of-?"
"Vicelord-we are being jammed!" the Neimoidian called, staring at his board in obvious disbelief. "All starfighters have gone dormant!"
Doriana stared out the viewports, his stomach tightening into a hard knot. The starfighters had indeed locked down, each of them now flying mindlessly in whatever direction it had last been pointed.
And swerving with ease through the drifting obstacle course, blasting away at the helpless starfighters as they went, Mitth'raw'nuruodo's alien ships were headed straight for them, the fighters in screening formation ahead of the two cruisers. "Get our starfighters back online," Kav ordered tautly, jabbing a hand toward the Neimoidians at the command board. "Get themback."
"We are trying," one of them called. "We have opened laser communications to as many as we can."
But those comm lasers were line of sight, Doriana knew, and with a sinking feeling he realized that this limitation was growing ever tighter as expanding clouds of dust and debris from the shattered starfighters began to block even this last-gasp communication method. A few of the starfighters were coming back to life, but they were targeted and destroyed by the aliens before they could organize into an effective fighting force. "What about the other ships?" he demanded. "Why aren't they attacking?"