Reorganizing the Defense Line
"Those bombers... are all piloted by Jedi Knights?" Thrawn's expression turned grave. "Are you sure?"
"No ordinary person or droid could fly an aircraft at such speeds. Only those of us who use the Force can," Egri said coldly.
"The Kingdom of Dawn could not possibly have that many Jedi Knights. And even the remnants of the Jedi Order would never choose to serve the Kingdom of Dawn," Thrawn said flatly.
Yet even as he spoke, he had already begun issuing orders to the Staff Department, adjusting the fleet formation.
What set him apart from many other commanders was that he never waited until something had been fully confirmed before making a decision. Just like now—while he could not be certain there were two hundred Jedi Knights on the other side, all he needed to know was that if the enemy had sent such a fleet to intercept them, then they were fully confident they could wipe his force out here. That was enough.
Under his command, the Imperial fleet assumed the posture of charging directly at the Chiss territory fleet for a decisive battle, but in truth, they were already preparing to withdraw.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!! The Imperial-class Star Destroyer Chimaera shuddered violently. A soldier in the command center shouted, "General! Our shields have been breached! Enemy bombers are attacking our engines!"
"How is the hyperspace jump calculation coming along?" Thrawn asked instead.
"It still needs twenty minutes," Egri replied.
"Abandon ship. Transfer to another warship," Thrawn said quietly to Egri. "Do not interrupt the hyperspace jump preparations. Can you do it in twenty minutes?"
"You've decided we have no chance of winning at all?" Egri asked.
"Even if we still have a chance, we should not gamble on it. This is the battlefield