A wrecked Vindicator-class heavy cruiser had, by sheer bad luck, landed right on top of that exhaust port!
It had been one of the warships Wilhuff Tarkin had concentrated inside the Death Star's Equatorial Trench after fighters and drones repeatedly exploited the trench to carry out sabotage.
They served as anti-aircraft turrets within the Equatorial Trench and inflicted severe losses on the Fourth Empire's fighters and drones.
Then, amid wave after wave of fierce assaults launched by Skrand Sharp-Bick, those anti-aircraft warships were destroyed one after another, even while sheltering inside the Equatorial Trench.
But their luck was truly terrible. One Vindicator-class heavy cruiser had crashed directly onto exhaust port E-7733!
Li Yifei, captain of Death Star Squadron and an ace pilot, stretched out his withered fingers and rapidly entered a string of commands into his fighter's console. In a hoarse voice, he said, "Destroying this wreck will require four Proton Torpedoes, my master."
He looked utterly horrifying now, almost like a mummified corpse.
After Darth Malthael turned him into an undead creature, he had nearly lost all human form.
"He Keyou! Give me the calculation!" Darth Malthael barked through the comm.
Over the comm, energy scientist He Keyou reached a conclusion in less than ten seconds. [Your Majesty, it would be best if we can use another method. I'm worried that bombarding it with Proton Torpedoes will damage and deform the exhaust port. Once it deforms, the Proton Torpedoes may detonate before reaching the core.]
Darth Malthael looked at the wreck. The Vindicator-class heavy cruiser's structure was still mostly intact. His gaze sharpened, and a savage smile spread across his face. "Good! Very good... Hehehehehe... Isn't it just a warship? Hahahaha!"
Darth Malthael had previously tried using the Death Force to control the people inside the Death Star, but