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I. Part One. Chapter 4.1
"Thank you for your health,
We're done for the dead."
(national).
* * *
Ahsoka was tormented by curiosity as she followed her teacher towards the hangars.
"I can't believe he knows Magister Shaak Ti and he's just talking to her!" Ahsoka herself had only seen her once, and then only briefly. To be honest, the young Togruta secretly dreamed of becoming the same great Jedi as the magister, but in reality everything constantly prevented this. No one even wanted to take her as a padawan! The injustice of pure water! And so, following the tall, armored Teacher (Yes, yes, yes! Her Teacher!), the girl still couldn't resist and asked:
"Um, Teacher, can I ask you a question?"
"It's possible," he nodded his head, without slowing down his pace.
"Oh, how was it? Well... on Geonosis?" There were various rumors among the Younglings, but here was a witness to the events. How to miss such an opportunity?
"Hot. It's dusty. Too many droids, in my opinion," with some kind of philosophical intonation, the man replied dryly.
"But these are... tins. And you are the Jedi. How did it happen that you almost lost?" At the last moment, the padawan realized what she had said, but it was too late. No, she was pretty sure that the rumors about that battle were true, but... almost. Rumors spread quickly among the Younglings and sometimes... to be honest, they are often "slightly" exaggerated. And if you think about it, Ahsoka could have gotten into a mess about "almost lost."
"Underestimating the enemy leads to defeat" The knight remarked softly, glancing at her slightly and once again making Togruta feel confident that he could read minds.
"But..."
"Even if you're a three-time magister, there's not much you can do in the open field against several hundred battle droids. Especially if you've never learned how to fight alone against an army before. And no one is immune from mistakes, and even one mistake is more than enough to get you shot by some lousy droid," the man paused for a second and reflexively scratched the armor in the chest area. Then he looked seriously into the girl's eyes. "Try to remember this and don't take unnecessary risks."
Ahsoka hastened to nod, indicating that she was listening attentively to the lesson and was generally a very responsible padawan who would never let a teacher down. To Tano's of honor, she sincerely believed so, which, however, did not stop her from trying to change the topic, which turned out to be a little more disturbing than expected:
"Why are you wearing armor? The Jedi are not warriors, but guardians of peace." Ho, it's the peacekeepers who get shot at the most...." The knight grinned and continued moving down the corridor. "After I was first shot by a droid in the arena, and then his brothers, for several hours in a row, they tried to hit me with ray, sound and rocket weapons, not counting all sorts of fragments and burning debris from the sky... You know, I suddenly came to the conclusion that it would not be shameful for a noble donu to use the experience of his ancestors. After all, they knew what they were doing. Do you think you're in a hurry?" The Jedi turned around again, looking at the girl with a sly expression.
"No..." togruta barely suppressed her delight at such ... Cool (!!!) details about the battle and her Teacher's past. "Very... motivating circumstances," an uninvited stupid smile appeared on his face, and his blue eyes, burning with admiration, simply began to devour the mentor's figure.
"Besides," the Jedi became more serious, "if we talk about the essence, the Order itself assumed the title of Guardians of Peace, and it was part of the Republic on very specific terms. How do you think the Jedi have so many privileges? It's just that when the Republic was just emerging from several states in the Central Worlds, its leadership agreed with the leadership of the Order and in exchange for government support, the Jedi pledged to protect the Republic. And first of all, just in military conflicts, then in general the time was very turbulent and there were enough wars. Although the Jedi ignored their previous commitments a couple of times, then everything returned to normal. Conversations about a peaceful religious education began much later, there is a complicated story there, I'll tell you later."
The man fell silent, and Tano could only open her mouth in surprise, batting her eyelashes. They had never been told anything about the history of the Temple, she would have remembered!
"And... when was that?"
"About twenty-five thousand years ago. Look at the official date of the signing of the Galactic Constitution, everything happened there almost simultaneously, maybe with a gap of a couple of decades. Pausing, the Jedi continued: "You should pick up your armor, too, as soon as possible. Even though you're small, you might not get in," he chuckled at last. "You should pick up your armor, too, as soon as possible. Even though you're small, you might not get in," he chuckled at last.
"I'm not small, I'm already big! And I'm growing fast!" Togruta immediately pouted, discarding thoughts about history. After all, she didn't really like it and it was easy for her to not know something, especially about such antiquity. And here... She's not a child anymore!
"Yes, yes, yes..."
* * *
Magister Shaak Ti was waiting for the Knight of the Vict not far from one of the gunboats. It has only been a few days since the start of the war, and reports of Separatist attacks have already begun to arrive from many parts of the galaxy. No one expected that they would have so many forces at the ready. Millions and millions of droids, thousands of warships. The army of the Republic, despite the pace of deployment, was trivially less numerous. The council has already decided to send her to Kamino, to monitor the preparation of new batches of clones. The shipyards of Kuat and the Factories of Rotana and Rendeliya have received huge orders for ships and military equipment.
The conflict is spreading, and the war promises to be very difficult. Grief and sorrow await many inhabitants of the galaxy. The war, one way or another, will affect the innocent.
But as if that wasn't enough, the Temple Council also had more worries — it turned out that there was no unity among the Jedi on the issue of participation in the war. It has only been a few days, and already there were voices calling not to interfere in this political conflict. Some have seriously stated their willingness to leave the Temple if the magisters do not change their minds. So far, there haven't been many of them, but even a dozen votes in such a short period of time is a serious trend. Shaak Ti did not understand them... That is, she fully understood the reluctance to fight and shed blood, to turn from negotiators and diplomats into soldiers who bring death and destruction on the battlefield, but... How can you abandon the Temple and your comrades, especially now after Geonosis, when every Jedi counts?
However, Magister Yoda, exhausted by recent events, only said heavily: "We cannot impose our will on everyone — this path leads to the Dark Side."
Togruta shook her head in time with her thoughts. The teacher of teachers was certainly right, but the woman's feelings were not dulled by this. It's hard to accept the news that friends and brothers are ready to leave you in a difficult moment, even if you can understand their motives.
But finally, the elevator doors in the far wall of the hangar parted to the sides and Knight Vict appeared, thereby snatching Togruta out of the captivity of inappropriate emotions now. "Hmm, and he didn't waste any time..." the magister mentally noted, looking at the approaching Jedi clad in blue-green armor. She had seen this armor somewhere, but she couldn't remember where. Although her attention was immediately captured by a second figure approaching from the elevator.
A girl of the same race as the master trotted after the man, trying to adjust to his wide stride and excitedly shaking her head from side to side. Judging by her height and the very small montrals on her head, she is still very young, about thirteen or fourteen years old, no more.
"Did he manage to take a padawan? Or did he already have one?"
"Magister," the Jedi nodded as he approached.
"Magister," came a confused squeak from his student.
"I am glad to see you in good health, Mikore Vikt," Shaak Ti, in turn, politely inclined her head.
"We say: you won't wait", A smile played on the young Jedi's face.
"An interesting expression," Togruta said, also stretching her lips in an involuntary smile, as soon as the hidden meaning of the answer reached her. "But let's get down to business, we don't have much time left."
"Of course."
"Then let's start with the main thing. As a member of the Council, I must inform you that they have decided to appoint you a general of the Grand Army of the Republic. The main reason is that you have been to Geonosis, which means that you have a unique and very necessary experience for the Republic. Do you agree with this appointment? — looking at the armor of the interlocutor, Shaak Ti did not doubt the answer, but it was necessary to observe all the formalities, there had already been unpleasant precedents.
"Of course," the knight nodded, ignoring the excited and enthusiastic look of the padawan, with which she jumped from him to the magister and back again, reflecting in the Force a mixture of delight, shock, disbelief and timidity.
"Okay," the woman also did not show that she noticed the girl's emotions. Although she wasn't sure about the appropriateness of such an attitude. "Commander Cage, tell the General his mission."
The clone standing nearby nodded and came closer, took out a small projector. A couple of seconds later, a hologram of a certain section of the galaxy map unfolded in front of the Jedi.
"To begin with, general information. The High Command has divided the Galaxy into twenty operational sectors, each of which will have at least one hundred and fifty thousand clones in the near future.
"So, twenty sectoral armies have been formed. You will be part of the twelfth sector army, located around the main section of the Perlemian Trade Route. Your task is to ensure the safety of this path. Now the main troops of the Republic are leaving Kamino and moving according to the command plan. The units remaining on Coruscant are now the closest to this region, and even then your journey will take about a day. The situation does not tolerate delay."
The clone flipped a switch, zooming in.
"You are going to the planet Donovia in the Inalau system. It is located near the Perlemian trade route. According to our information, the separatists are attacking planets along the entire trade route, seeking to cut off the supply of goods we need. There is already a small outpost of the Trade Federation on the planet Donovia, and the gas giant located in the same system has an automatic enrichment plant for the production of fuel for ships. The separatists can use this outpost for attacks along a fairly large trade route. Capturing it will allow us to establish our base there for further movement along the planets of the trade route. You won't have to rely on large forces — the separatists are on the offensive all over the galaxy, and there are still not enough combat-ready units. Your squadron will consist of one Approving ship and two Consular corvettes, plus your squadron will be reinforced with forty-seven V-19 fighters."
"However, due to the reduction of some of the gunboats, only forty of them will remain. But you can't do without fighter cover — about one and a half thousand Vulture-type fighter droids are transported on the warships of the Trade Federation. But you can't do without fighter cover — about one and a half thousand Vulture-type fighter droids are transported on the warships of the Trade Federation. Here are the full details of the forces assigned to you, please, sir", The clone removed an info crystal from a slot in the holoprojector and handed it to the Jedi.
Shaak Ti nodded and waved her hand.
"Thank you, Commander Cage," and as soon as the clone left, she continued on her own: "You will leave as soon as the troops finish loading, and the ships will receive the necessary equipment to create a base on the planet. This gunboat will take you to your ship," the woman pointed to one of the transports already ready for departure standing in the hangar.
"Good. I understand everything," the knight nodded. "One question: are there locals on the planet and what is their loyalty level?"
"We don't know about that," the magister replied. "According to the latest data, there are no large settlements there, but if there are residents, then there are few of them and they cannot influence the situation."
"Thank you," and turning to little togruta, Mikore Vikt said, "Come on, Ahsoka, we're going to the ship."
"Yes, Teacher."
A minute later, Shaak Ti watched the gunboat fly away. "May the Force be with you..."
* * *
The gunboat took us directly to the BDK hangar, and on the way to the bridge, I indulged in painful thoughts.
"Let's sum it up. And in the end — a complete ass. "You have invaluable experience"... Gorgeous! Who would even come up with the idea of appointing Jedi commanders?
Yes, they will rush to the attack in the first seconds of the battle, waving a lightsaber, because they can't do anything else, and the troops will lose control before they even have time to figure out what happened! No, I know that this is all Sidious's "Cunning Plan," but you have to have your head on your shoulders, too! There are a lot of smart people sitting on the Council, but didn't anyone have enough brains to soberly assess their talents in this matter and understand that the idea is stupid?! Or are the alternatives even worse?"
The last thought allowed me to calm down a little. In principle, it could well be true, because not only the Jedi had been losing their shape for a thousand years, the rest of the Republic also could not boast of experienced warriors. Solo mercenaries, leaders of small detachments and groups, captains of individual ships — this is the modern limit. Well, maybe representatives of some planetary armed forces have some experience, but go ahead and scratch them out of their homes on the eve of the war.... So maybe there really was no choice, or the benefits of the other options were not obvious enough for the Chancellor to convince the Order to take on the role he had prepared. Yes... most likely.
When I finally calmed down, I started thinking about how to find a way out of the fucked-up situation I was in. "So that's what we have. The Approving is seven hundred and fifty meters long, more than four hundred wide, and about two hundred meters high; in general, it's a pretty solid little boat, but... it's not a cruiser. In fact, it is an armed transport and its only real significant advantage over the Separatist ships is that it was originally designed as a warship. In the Confederacy, if I remember correctly, most of the fleet of the first period of the war is converted merchant ships, even the frigates "Generosity" are collection machines, sharpened to fight with all sorts of trash, like pirates, and not for squadron battles. So, it turns out that when you meet with an equivalent KNS ship, bash on bash, and it will come out — I have a military building, with all the appropriate architecture and materials, but transport, they have a civilian building, also transport, but bigger, respectively, more aircraft on board and more can be crammed onto the hull. guns.
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