More than once, Doriana had wondered whether Sidious's ultimate plan was to kill any survivors of the mission to make doubly sure that none of this ever leaked out. If so, the low crew numbers would certainly make that easier.

"Your concerns are needless," Kav said haughtily, completely missing the direction Doriana's thoughts had taken. "We are double-checking the location now."

"Thank you," Doriana said, inclining his head politely. The skeleton crew would not, of course, affect their attack capabilities to any great degree. That would be handled by droid star-fighters, and that system was largely automated.

He looked around the bridge at the Neimoidians and droids working busily in the various sunken control pits, then turned his attention to the tactical board. The task force was arranging itself into a typical Neimoidian defense structure: the two huge Trade Federation split-ring battleships in the center where they would be best protected, the six armed Techno UnionHardcell — class transports forming a pyramid-point defensive shell around them, and the seven Trade Federation escort cruisers arrayed in a patrol cloud beyond that.

It was an awesome collection of firepower, possibly the largest assembled in one place since the fiasco at Naboo. Against even the weaponry of six brand-new Dreadnaughts, they should have no trouble carrying the day.

Assuming, of course, that Kav's navigators had indeed brought them to the right part of the right system. If they missed Outbound Flight here, they would have to hurry another six hundred light-years ahead in order to catch it at its second navigational stop.

"Our position is confirmed," Kav said with satisfaction. His nictitating membranes blinked at Doriana. "Ifthe coordinates you have brought us are correct."

"They are," Doriana said. "If Outbound Flight is on schedule, they'll arrive in a little over eleven days. Until then, we'll run training exercises to make sure your people and equipment will be ready."

"They are more than ready," Kav insisted stiffly. "The combat programs for the droid starfighters are the very best, and between our two battleships we have nearly three thousand of them. No matter how strong Outbound Flight's defenses, no matter how skilled their gunners, we will destroy them with ease."

That's what you said at Naboo. With an effort, Doriana kept the comment to himself. "I'm sure you're right," he said instead. "We'll still spend the next few days running my drills."

Kav made a noise deep in his chest. "As you wish," he said with strained patience. "But the extra expenditure of fuel and energy will be upon your responsibility. When do you wish to begin?"

Doriana looked out at the stars. "There's no time like the present," he said. "We launch starfighters in ten minutes."

"And this," C'baoth said as he led the way into the unusually low-ceilinged room, "is the control room for Weapons Blister Number One. You'll notice the ceiling is low, to make extra room for the turbolaser charging equipment above us."

"Lucky we don't have any Gungans aboard," Obi-Wan commented, ducking his head a little as he stepped in. The room was equipped with a large wraparound control board in the center, with auxiliary and support consoles along the walls. From the number of chairs arranged at the various stations, it looked like the normal complement would be fifteen people, including the three actual gunners.

"Gungans wouldn't have been allowed anywhere near these stations even if there were any aboard," C'baoth said flatly. "Weapons specialists need far more sophistication and intelligence than that."

"In my experience, those two don't necessarily go together," Obi-Wan commented. "And there are four of these blisters on each Dreadnaught?"

"Correct," C'baoth said, crossing to the main firing console and resting his hand on the headrest of one of the chairs. "Come and sit down, Master Skywalker."

Anakin glanced at Obi-Wan, then walked over and lowered himself gingerly into the seat. "Looks complicated," he commented.

"Not really," C'baoth said, pointing over his shoulder at the various sections of the board. "Here are the actual firing controls. Note that you can aim and fire both the forward and aft turbolasers from here as well as your own starboard-side weaponry. Over here is the sensor-lock monitor; this is the secondary fire control; this is the weapons status board; this is the comm; this is the tactical display system. All quite straightforward."

"Still pretty complicated," Anakin said. "I'll bet I could design a better layout."

"I'm sure you could," C'baoth said, throwing Obi-Wan an amused smile. "Unfortunately, Rendili StarDrive didn't think to consult any Jedi during production. Still, you'll learn it quickly enough. We'll start with an overall tutorial and then a simple simulation. You access both over here-"

"Wait a minute," Obi-Wan said, frowning as he stepped to Anakin's other side. "What are you doing?"

"I'm teaching Master Skywalker how to handle Dreadnaught-One's weaponry, of course," C'baoth said.

"Doesn't Captain Pakmillu already have experienced crewers for that job?"

"Experience is not always the most important aspect of combat," C'baoth pointed out. "Timing and coordination are also key, and no amount of experience can give ordinary gunners the edge that we already possess. Tell me, Master Skywalker, has Master Kenobi ever spoken to you of the Jedi meld?"

"I don't think so," Anakin said. "What does it do?"

"It permits a group of Jedi to connect their minds so closely as to act as a single person," C'baoth told him.

"It can also be very dangerous," Obi-Wan warned. "It takes a Jedi Master of great power and depth in the Force to create such a state without killing or destroying the minds of everyone involved."

"A Jedi Master such as myself," C'baoth said calmly. "I've successfully performed such a meld on four separate occasions."

Obi-Wan stared at him. "Four?"

"Three were training exercises, of course," C'baoth conceded. "But the fourth was under serious field conditions, with five other Jedi in the meld. As you can see, we came through it successfully."

"That was with six of you," Obi-Wan pointed out. "There are nineteen of us aboard Outbound Flight."

"Twenty, including Master Skywalker," C'baoth corrected, laying a hand on Anakin's shoulder. "Certainly we'll need to proceed with caution. I'll be discussing the procedure with each of my Jedi, and we'll be carrying out a number of practice sessions before we leave Republic space. Still, once we're all comfortable with the technique, we'll become an awesome fighting force indeed. With Jedi working as one at the weapons systems of all six Dreadnaughts, Outbound Flight will be virtually unbeatable."