“Yes, sir,” Samakro said. “But I believe Commander Kharill was referring less to the philosophy than to the question of why only our two ships were sent.”

“You don’t believe the Springhawk and Vigilant will prove an even match for the Lioaoin heartworld’s core defenses?”

Samakro hesitated. “To be honest, sir, no.”

“Perhaps a more complete understanding of the situation would help,” Thrawn said. “There are four different groups in play, each with their own interests and agenda. First are the Nikardun, who wanted to capture or destroy Admiral Ar’alani at Primea but didn’t want the Ascendancy’s vengeance to fall on either themselves or the Vak Combine. General Yiv therefore called in a force from the Lioaoin Regime to make the attack and take that risk.”

“I thought that connection hadn’t been established.”

“If not, you need to believe that the Lioaoi traveled all the way to Primea in order to attack a Chiss warship they couldn’t possibly know was coming.”

Samakro grimaced. “Yes, I see your point.”

“So Yiv has achieved the first of his objectives, though at the risk of sacrificing the strength of his Lioaoin allies,” Thrawn said. “The second objective, now that he’s turned our anger toward the Lioaoi, is to gauge the Ascendancy’s will to deliver a reprisal. That will help him revise his plans if necessary as he looks forward to his ultimate war against us.”

“Which means sending only two ships wasn’t a good move on the Council’s part,” Samakro said. “It’s going to make us look weak or indecisive.”

“Yiv may indeed interpret it that way,” Thrawn agreed. “But he could also interpret it as supreme confidence, that two Chiss warships are deemed adequate to deliver the necessary message. Add to that the Lioaoin interest in keeping damage to their regime to a minimum.”

“Which we don’t care about.”

“Perhaps not,” Thrawn said. “Still, if we can strike a balance between maximizing our message and minimizing our damage, the Lioaoi may remember that restraint in the future.”

“Assuming they don’t just turn the ships we don’t destroy against us,” Samakro warned.

“All the more reason to defeat Yiv and remove his stranglehold on the region as quickly as possible,” Thrawn said grimly. “Certainly the Lioaoi wouldn’t move against us without Nikardun pressure.”

“But the Syndicure must first recognize the threat,” Samakro pointed out. Though to be honest, he wasn’t fully convinced of it, either. It was a long way from gobbling up whisker cubs like the Lioaoin Regime to tangling with the nighthunter that was the Chiss Ascendancy. “At any rate, meeting both those objectives requires us to do some damage without getting blown out of the sky.”

“There’s that,” Thrawn agreed. “But the admiral believes we can strike the necessary balance.”