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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.
As a bonus, I have a pair of Consular corvettes, modernized at the Rotana factories. I saw them briefly and it seemed like a pretty good machine, but a corvette is a corvette, it"s just over a hundred meters long and its guns are far from intimidating calibers. They're no match for the frigate "Shchedrost," which is, I think, over eight hundred meters long, let alone the three-kilometer-long "Baryshnik" frigates. In other words, my corvettes are just cover from enemy fighters, something like destroyers/hunters. I don't argue that this is an extremely necessary and useful thing given the overwhelming superiority of light forces among the Separatists, but it is no help in serious conflicts.
According to the data crystal transmitted by the clone consultant, which I managed to glance at during the flight on board, the ground forces at my disposal consist of forty LAAT gunboats, twelve of which are transport-cargo ships designed to carry AT-TE tanks. I have exactly forty-eight of them, in two variants-one with a kinetic cannon and one with a main-caliber laser cannon. The most delicious part was represented by thirty-six SPHA installations, which I was delighted to receive as if they were my own, as they had really impressed me with their firepower on Geonosis. There were also two hundred motorspeeders and one hundred twenty AT-RT light walkers.
As for the infantry, I have four clone regiments under my command — nine thousand two hundred and sixteen clones (!), plus the support and auxiliary units of the legion: an engineering battalion, a repair battalion, a medical battalion, a tank regiment with walkers, and support services for this entire army. Plus about four dozen people on corvettes. And finally, forty-seven V-19 fighters, designed in the general scheme of preparing equipment for the clone army.
In total, there are approximately seventeen thousand clones, including the ship crews. I have more than enough forces to conquer some planet in the Outer Rim. Let's hope there won't be too many droids and the first battle will go smoothly.
* * *
When I climbed onto the bridge, I found a meeting of the commanders there.
"Attention!" one of them commanded.
In front of me stood multiple copies of Jango Fett in armor with insignia (note to learn insignia) and a Zabrak in a grayish uniform similar to those seen on naval officers in the cartoon series.
"At ease," I commanded. Well, I'm not a complete moron; I at least understand some aspects of army life, even if only from movies. "Let's get acquainted. I am General Mikore Vikt, Jedi Knight, and this" a nod "is Ahsoka Tano, my Padawan."
"I am Ntor Ragnos, captain of the TR-678," the Zabrak introduced himself.
"Commander Blam, 1st Regiment, Thirteenth Legion."
"Commander Enok, 2nd Regiment, Thirteenth Legion."
"Commander H, 3rd Regiment, Thirteenth Legion."
"Commander Zylo, 4th Regiment, Thirteenth Legion."
"Commander Tern, 13th Legion walker tank regiment."
"Commander Erd, heavy fire support," the clones murmured, standing at attention. They also informed me of my legion number. Thirteen, huh...
"Excellent. Do you know the essence of the task?"
"Yes, sir."
"When will loading be complete?"
"In two hours, General."
"Where are the corvettes?"
"They're waiting for us in orbit, sir."
"Wonderful. So, before we get into the details of the operation, I'd like to clarify a few things. First of all, I'm interested in what you were taught on Kamino, and what kind of tactical tasks the fighters are most skilled at. Tactical and technical characteristics of the assigned equipment, its strengths and weaknesses from your point of view. The capabilities of our ships, and so on. Who will start?"
Judging by the clones' faces and the echoes of their emotions in the Force, they had little expected such an approach. The captain was more reserved. Ahsoka took everything that was happening for granted.
"May I?" also noticing the confusion of his colleagues, the Zabrak decided.
I nodded.
"Then I'll start with this ship. The large landing ship "Approver." Armed with twelve quadruple-barreled light turbolasers and twenty-four light laser cannons. In addition, there are four missile and torpedo launchers. The total ammunition load is sixteen proton torpedoes and the same number of anti-ship missiles. It carries an additional eighty small aircraft on board, of which forty-seven are currently V-19 light short-range fighters..."
The lecture turned out to be thorough. In particular, I soon learned that corvettes were truly practically unsuitable for squadron combat-four light turbolaser cannons and six medium laser cannons, albeit rapid-fire ones, made them dangerous only to enemy mosquito forces. But, as it turned out, it was a pretty decent supply ship, with a cargo capacity of six thousand metric tons. By comparison, the Approver had eleven thousand two hundred and fifty metric tons, and their dimensions were six times the size. But they had no hangars, so all our light forces were concentrated solely on the flagship, which wasn't a good thing-they'd knock it down, and there would be no chance of retreating with even a fraction of the MLA intact, even if both corvettes didn't suffer a scratch, but there was nothing I could do about it anyway.
The clone troopers' technology also became clearer. While they were talking about the ships, the guys managed to gather their thoughts and dump so many details on me that I could barely digest them. The Django copies had no practical experience beyond the training grounds, but all six were straight-A students, which, incidentally, earned them special mentions from their mentors, and so they were knowledgeable about the subject. But as far as I understood it...
Here I had to first put everything in my head and think hard, but, in any case, I didn"t plan on inventing battle strategies on my own yet. I will act according to the ancient principle: a task is defined, subordinates, from junior to senior, speak out, argue, make suggestions, and I choose from the proposed options. I hope I will be enough to choose something that makes the most sense...
Stop, a thought flashed. Something needs to be done, and right now.
"Captain, what do you say the name of the ship is?"
"TR-678, sir," the Zabrak repeated.
"This is not right. The ship must have a name."
"Hmm. What should we call it? Enterprise? Moscow? Nogibator? Pink Hutt? A vague name flashed through my head. Oh yeah. That would definitely do."
"Captain, do I have the right to change the ship's name?" I manage to clarify at the last moment before I start acting arbitrarily.
The officer thought for a moment, but after a few seconds he nodded.
"I believe so, sir. There is nothing in the instructions I received to contradict this."
"Then, from now on, it bears the name "Marat""I think the name of the heroic battleship will be just right.
"Yes, sir," the captain's voice gleamed with surprise. "And... what is 'Marat'?"
"Yes, in ancient times there was such a ship... a very long time ago it participated in the defense of one planet, preventing enemy landing craft from approaching it. Even after he lost his engine and half his hull as a result of a raid by a large number of bombers, he continued to fight, and ultimately the enemies failed to capture that planet," I gave a free retelling of the events of the defense of Leningrad.
"Sounds good," the Zabrak shrugged in surprise. "I haven't heard that story, General."
"Much has been forgotten over time, Captain. So much that was necessary and useful" I'm drawn back to philosophy again...
* * *
Having completed loading, we quickly ascended into orbit, from where we made a hyperspace jump. Having confirmed with the captain that the flight would take almost a day, I decided to address a few questions. First and foremost, I spoke with the Togruta.
"Well, Ahsoka, admit it, are you brain-boiling?"
"How do they remember all this?! It's just creepy!" the slightly dejected girl responded emotionally.
"Never mind, soon you too will know everything. Well, if, of course, you want to become a good officer. Okay, let's go find our cabins, and then you can tell me what you can do..."
Half an hour later, having safely found our cabins exactly where the captain had said, we settled in with me.
"So, student, tell me, I fold my arms across my chest, looking at the girl."
"Well..." the Togruta hesitated. "What should I say?"
"For starters, what form of combat do you use, what Force techniques do you master, what sweets do you like?"
"Sweets?" Tano squinted one eye in amazement.
"Well, I'm your teacher," I smile, "which means I should know your tastes and food preferences. But that's secondary for now; tell me about the techniques first."
"Well..." the little one hesitated again. "I taught Ataru and Master Yoda himself praised me, I also have a good push, it seems pretty good, and... And what can you do, Master?" And with those honest, honest eyes, she looked at me like, "Blink-blink," like, "answered." Eh... And Ataru... Her fourth form, quite aggressive, focused on maneuverability and speed, good in duels, but poor at parrying shots. In general, it"s just in her character.
"I know how to meditate," I smile. And I was telling the pure truth! "But let's see what you're capable of," I said, taking out my two training swords and tossing one to Ahsoka. She picked it up. "There's not much space here, of course, but there's no need to destroy everything, just show me your fighting technique."
"Okay-y-y," the Togruta activated the blade and, biting her lip, bent down slightly, taking an attack position.
I lowered the handle, which was still not turned on, and stood in a meditation pose, tuning into the flow of the Force. There was no way I could screw up now, and since Shii Cho versus Ataru was a sad thing, I needed to use my main trump card — the ability to concentrate on foresight, even though the Balance Corps was strong in this.
"Uh... teacher?"
"Attack me."
"But you're not ready!"
"Attack."
Ahsoka struck from the side with lightning speed. Activating my lightsaber, I blocked her blow, albeit with difficulty, before smoothly shifting forward, shifting my weight onto my sword...
During the short battle, I found out... Well, I found out, I became convinced that my Padawan is quite an expressive person, easily succumbing to excitement. Just like in the cartoon. Oh yeah, and it just popped into my head that the Togrutas are descended from the Predators.
"That"s enough," I say after stopping the fight. "Sit down, we need to talk."
Tano obediently sat down next to me.
"Ahsoka, you're a great swordsman, but... you're too emotional," I tried to explain, not seeing much understanding on the girl's face. "Understand, in battle you will have to command people, maybe not right away, but you are my padawan, and since I am a general, you will have to at least take the position of adjutant, just for the sake of order. And to command you need to keep a clear mind. If you lose your temper and run at the droids with a sword, thereby forcing your people, for example, to leave their comfortable defensive positions, trying to cover you, then you will let down the people you command. Don't forget — where you pass with ease, simple intelligent beings who do not possess the Force will perish."
"But... How to fight then?"
"There are different ways, but the main one is this:" I gently flick my finger on her forehead and watch how the girl"s blue eyes comically gather in a bunch, trying to look up through her concentratedly frowning eyebrows. "Brains, Ahsoka, brains! A Jedi isn't a dumb droid wielding a lightsaber. You have precognition, telekinesis, a sense of danger and the right course of action, you just need to use it. Well, just imagine what would happen if you were put behind a rapid-fire blaster" I'd happily say "machine gun," but there's simply no such word here.
"What?"
"Not a single miss, that's what. Where an ordinary intelligent being would hit ten times out of a hundred shots and divide them among the defeated enemies, a Jedi would put all one hundred on target, each one hitting a separate enemy, and at a vital point. Get it?" I gesture with my hand and try to wiggle my eyebrows expressively, like Jack Sparrow. But I failed-I had neither the eyebrows nor any particular artistic flair.
Tano was initially stunned by this sight, then she grunted and quickly buried her mouth in her hands. The Togruta's shoulders began shaking vigorously, accompanied by stifled giggles. And yes, she was seriously trying to control herself. It was even somewhat unexpected... As for the lecture, to be honest, I wasn"t sure of its effectiveness, since I hadn"t tried it myself, and my predecessor didn"t remember anything even close, but purely theoretically, it"s more than possible. If some masters can deflect dozens of shots per second, then following the Force's cues, reversing a machine gun's barrel should be even more feasible. Anyway, I'll have to test it out when I get a chance.
"S-sorry, Teacher, I..."
"Wait, I'm not finished yet. Besides, don't neglect to always learn — even from clones. They were trained by the best specialists in the galaxy, especially special forces groups. By the way..." I glanced at her. "We didn't have time to pick out armor in the Temple, of course, and here, I'm afraid, you won't find anything that fits you, but you still need to stop by the quartermaster's, at least to try on the blaster."
"To mow down droids without missing?" the girl said, showing understanding.
"That too, but in general, something remote must be had first and foremost against enemy fighters. The Neimoidians' "Baryshnik" — a huge donut three kilometers long — can accommodate up to one and a half thousand "Vultures", and if this crowd swarms our positions, it will be quite a mess for everyone. In short, it's better to be able to shoot down a flying bastard with a blaster than to powerlessly clutch a sword and only curse at it as it circles overhead."
"Uh-huh..." the Togruta nodded thoughtfully.
"And so," I handed her a belt with several pockets. "Here's some dry rations, a canteen of water, and a comlink to contact me. Be careful not to lose it. Now let's go, we only have a day, and we still need to plan the operation and get some sleep..."
* * *
The alarm beep instantly woke me up. Less than an hour remained until arrival. Oh-oh-oh.
Having quickly washed up and had a snack, I headed to the bridge, picking up a yawning Tano along the way.
"General," the captain greeted me.
I nodded and glanced around. The clone crew was busy, instruments and holographic panels were glowing everywhere, and, by the way, there were no "glassed-in verandas" overlooking open space on the bridge-armored walls-that was the harsh reality of my flagship's conning tower. And that's a good thing!
"until arrival Five... four... three... two... one... hyperspace jump complete!" the voice of one of the operators monotonously reported the situation.
We emerged from hyperspace somewhere in the center of the system, which was kindly reported by the holographic panel, which instantly unfolded a map of space with our position in it. The bustle on the bridge avalanched and reports poured in.
Someone has already put up an image of the planet we need on the screen — a reddish-brown ball surrounded by a green atmosphere, with huge seas spread across its entire surface, and small ice caps at the poles.
A second later, a dot appeared in its orbit, quickly enlarged by the eager clones and taking on the appearance of a half-donut of the "Baryshnik," complete with lines of parameters captured by the scanners. Several small vessels were swarming around the ship, but most importantly, the sphere inside was missing-meaning the central section, a completely independent vessel about four hundred meters in diameter, had clearly landed on the planet.
"General?" the Zabrak turned to me.
"Command the fleet, Captain" I had no intention of interfering with the professionals' work with my amateurish notions. But observing and learning from them-that was quite something.
"We're approaching the station!" Ntor nodded abruptly and began barking out orders. "Corvettes, attack the small fry! Launch fighters!"
The Marat was rapidly approaching the Separatist ship. Fighters poured out of our hangar in droves, spreading their wings into combat mode and beginning to accelerate.
At first, the enemy ship did not react to our presence, but soon we were noticed and a couple of points near the Baryshnik's side, identified by the computer as small transport ships, suddenly rushed away. After which, the strokes of turbolaser and laser shots reached out towards us.
"We have entered into fire contact!"
Boom! A bluish flash flashed across the overview screens.
"Hit! Shields at seventy-six percent! No damage!" reported one of the operators.
However, our gunfire was more intense than the enemy ship's, despite its massive armament of forty-eight turbolasers, one hundred and ninety-two laser cannons, and one hundred and twenty-four quad laser batteries, which were helpfully highlighted by the scanners on the holographic panel. We could fire from ninety percent of our guns (the wedge-shaped form of our ship itself contributed to this), while the enemy ship could only respond with thirty percent of its guns, which was also determined by the shape of the hull and the arrangement of the latter. But we still didn't have enough firepower to quickly break through its shields-after all, this bandura has powerful reactors.
"Ready the torpedo tubes!" the captain gave another order.
"Shields at thirty-four percent!" the operator continued to broadcast.
Having approached the station to within twenty kilometers, if I interpret the local system of measurement correctly, the Marat began braking and simultaneously launched its torpedoes. Four fifteen-meter-long torpedoes quickly penetrated the barrage of the few anti-aircraft guns and slammed into the station. Three of them scattered powerlessly across the shield as plasma, while the fourth, having breached the overloaded shield, slammed into the station's left hangar. A monstrous explosion bulged the station's hull, after which the ship began to shake with internal detonations.
"Keep firing! Shoot down this misunderstanding!"
Corvettes and fighters maneuvered near the Baryshnik hangars, picking off the departing Vultures. A brawl erupted.
"Yellow-six, I've got two on my tail!"
"Yellow-six, this is Yellow-seven, thirty degrees up, I'll take them out!"
"Two Vultures down!"
"I'm down, I repeat, I'm under... shhh."
"Hold on, boys! Cover the ships!"
The pilots' communications were being transmitted to the control room. Glancing at Ahsoka, I noticed her clenching and unclenching her fists. Without a doubt, what she wants most now is to be there, in the thick of the battle, at the controls of a fighter jet.
Less than ten minutes after the battle began, the heap of twisted metal that had been the station began to collapse into the atmosphere.
"Well, the natives will have a field day — so many freebies will fall from the sky," I commented on this action. Not so much because he thought the joke was witty, but because he wanted to relieve tension.
But one of the operators hastened to report, clearly taking my words seriously:
"Sir, the debris is expected to fall into one of the inland seas."
"Really? Well, then it wasn't meant to be."
* * *
Meanwhile, on the planet's surface, a skinny Neimoidian-one of the thirty surviving crew members-reported to the "Master Trader":
"Lord Herald, we are under attack by Republic forces. A ship of unknown design has attacked an orbital platform! It's practically destroyed!"
"Where did they come from? Raise all fighters! Activate battle droids! We won't give them this planet!"
The Chief Trader leaned back in his chair. The war, years in the making, had begun, but he hadn't expected it to reach him so quickly. The bad news was that most of the droids, both fighters and ground-based, were in orbital holds-thirty thousand units out of more than one hundred and forty were enough to control the planet, whose inhabitants were few and scattered. There were only four C-9979 transports, fifty of the massive MTTs, and five hundred of the more than six AAT tanks. The small hangar could only accommodate a hundred droid fighters.
"Send a message to the Regional Trading Node immediately via an encrypted channel! We need help immediately!"
* * *
I wouldn't mind destroying the Separatist base with an orbital bombardment, but Captain Ragnos rejected the idea. According to him, it turned out that while the ship itself might be more vulnerable on the surface, its shield was functional, and its weapons were more than capable of fighting back. It was also completely unknown whether the Separatists had managed to deploy anti-space defense systems, and testing this by deploying a transport with all the troops allocated for the operation was far from the best idea. Plus, the planet's atmosphere, while not greatly affecting the accuracy and energy of the shot, did have an effect.
So it was necessary to organize a ground operation.
The landing on the planet went off without a hitch. Under cover of a fighter attack, the gunboats deployed the first wave of infantry, supported by ten tanks, within virtually direct line of sight of the enemy ship. The Separatists were extremely sluggish, reacting noticeably late. A measly hundred Vultures were shot down almost immediately-they were no match for the pilots, albeit inexperienced but still alive, especially given their relatively equal numbers.
It immediately turned out that there were no anti-ship missile defense systems on the planet, except for the guns of the ball base itself, more precisely, the LH-1740 type ship, but even there there were only three full-fledged turbolasers that were really dangerous for the shields of large ships and about four dozen heavy laser cannons distributed over the entire surface of the round hull, and this means that they are not capable of firing simultaneously in one direction, the rest was designed solely to resist fighters, and even then... Shar, what can I say? We took care of the fighters and were in no hurry to throw them into a frontal attack on the shields and anti-aircraft guns of the base.
Nevertheless, the opportunities were taken advantage of, and the Approving landed neatly ten kilometers from the merchant ship, releasing the loading ramps. The corvettes patrolled space, in case the merchants tried to run away on their "balloon". Although he did not think to take off, snapping at our fighters from his defensive guns.
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