Chapter 29 - Ryloth: Endgame (1/2)
Part 1
=RK=
Med bay, Assault Ship Courageous, Republic LZ, Ryloth
I was watching as doctors and med droids were working on Anakin. They were cutting charred pieces of cloth and armor off of him. In the room to the right, Ahsoka was being treated for her blaster wounds. Thanks to Skywalker, who had mostly shielded her with his body and Force powers, she was only mildly singed. If she had been wearing an armor, she might have gotten away only with mild injuries.
That was something we were going to talk about, once the docs were finished with her.
Next to me, Kenobi was staring with empty eyes at his former apprentice, who was covered with first and second degree burns.
When all was said and done, Anakin got lucky. Oh, he'll have some impressive scarring across his ċhėst and would need to wear a resperator mask for the next few weeks, but he was expected to make full recovery.
So would Captain Rex, who would be out of commission for a month or so. However, with the exception of four grievously wounded troopers, Torrent Company was gone.
Kenobi's men had fared a bit better; a small platoon could be ȧssembled from the survivors of Ghost Company. Once they all are back on duty, which wwould take months and artificial limbs for some of them.
All in all, the ȧssault on the artillery positions had turned out to be almost as big a clusterfuck as the space battle. I could scarcely believe it.
What in the name of the Force possessed the Jedi to go into battle with only blaster carbines and Ion grenades?!
”General Kenobi. Walk with me.” I said in a tone leaving no room for mistaking my words as anything but orders and headed to the nearest conference room, where we could speak without someone interrupting us.
His head turned slowly my way and he stared at me for a few seconds before shaking his head and following me.
When we were both inside, I manipulated the door panel with the Force, making sure that we wouldn't be disturbed.
”General Kenobi, I'll read your and Skywalkers AARs when you are able to finish the damn things. Right now I want to know what the hell were you two idiots thinking?! You went in carrying only light weapons!” I shouted at him, which tore him out of his funk.
Obi-Wan winced and lowered his head.
”Two Companies of the finest men the Republic had, all but destroyed! Tell me General Kenobi, what were you thinking when you ordered your men to carry only carbines and Ion grenades against a numerous well entrenched enemy?!” Now, that I had his undivided attention, I spoke quietly. No need to shout any more.
”We came here to liberate the people of Ryloth. Not to demolish their homes...” he mumbled.
”Let me get this straight. You were armed for a peacekeeping action, despite being aware that the CIS would be dug in deep to protect the proton cannons. All because you wanted to keep a few damn buildings safe?!” I was incredulous.
”It's the Jedi way... causing wanton destruction, especially on a Republic world...”
I glared at him and pointed at his apparel.
”From the moment you put on that uniform, General, you have been a GAR general first and a Jedi second. Your duty is to the Republic and your men. The Jedi's creed is a very distant third. ”
Obi-Wan opened his mouth to say something but I didn't give him the chance to speak. I slammed a Force enhanced fist at the table, denting it.
”Tell me, how many Twi'lek died because you two were playing games? If Skywalker had not followed your example, he might have been able to deal with the Confed resistance on the ground! I wouldn't have been forced to call in an orbital strike to clear the last kriffing cluster of proton cannons!” I hissed.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. The turmoil that Kenobi was radiating, was obvious to anyone with the senses to pick it up.
”This is war! Not a police action or a run of the mill peacekeeping! When you mess around, more people die. The longer any single battle or the conflict as a whole lasts, the casualties became greater. For both sides, not to mention the civilians caught in between.
Obi-Wan, if you and the rest of the Jedi can't move from the mindset of a peacekeepers to that of a generals, you will get more people killed. Either directly by kriffing up as you and Anakin did today, and causing the deaths of your men when you kriffed up by the numbers. Or indirectly. Like you did by forcing me to sacrifice the civilians at Site Beta, so we could safely land our main force and proceed with liberating Ryloth. As we speak more people are dying in the CIS camps.”
”Sometimes people either under your direct command or civilians must be sacrificed so more people can be saved.”
”That goes contrary to everything we are taught as Jedi! To everything we are!” exclaimed Obi-Wan.
”Then you have a decision to make, General Kenobi,” I stated in a carefully bland voice. ” You will either become the leader of men I know you can be, an officer that will be the pride of the Republics Armed forces. A General who does right by his oath and brings as many of his men home alive as possible. Or you will get out of the GAR. That is a choice all Jedi will have to make, sooner than later. We can't afford any more such 'victories'!” I pointed at the deck, and Ryloth's soil below it.
My comm beeped, breaking the moment. I bit off a curse and activated it.
”I'm listening.”
”Sir, we have holocall from Coruscant. It's the Chancellor and General Valentra.”
”Patch it to conference room 3A.” I ordered.
The holoprojector around which the round table dominating the room was built, came to life showing the blue tinted images of Palpatine, Valentra, Yularen, Yoda and that of Ryloth's senator.
He was the same man I had ordered arrested for trying to release Grievous under Palpatine's instructions during the Hostage crisis on Coruscant. He got away, but not without suffering a serious blow to his power.
That man wasn't one of my greatest fans, but so far he's been unable to stir up too much trouble.
”Ah! General Veil! What is your progress?” exclaimed Palpatine.
He appeared pleased to see me in one piece. Which, considering who and what he was, meant nothing.
”We hold Ryloth's orbit and have annihilated the Separatist fleet blockading the planet. One Droid Command ship, two battleships and forty Munificents were destroyed by our forces as well as twelve thousand Vulture fighters. However we suffered heavy casualties in order to achieve such a feat.”
”Excellent work, General!” Palpatine smiled at me.
It wasn't reassuring in the least.
”What is the situation on the ground?” asked Valentra.
”Our forces are disembarking and we'll proceed with the liberation of Ryloth as soon as that is done.” I stated with a blank expression. ”However there are some grim news you all should be aware of...” I proceeded to inform them about the slaves we saved in orbit and the Camps set up by the CIS.
Ryloth's senator started screaming for immediate action and I could see that Palpy was going to order it.
”You have to save those people, General! Consider this an order!” snapped Palpatine, faking a look of horror.
”The fastest way to finish this campaign will be to capture the Capital where Wat Tambor has his command center.” I said, calling up a projection of the said city. It was build in on a solid rock spire, surrounded by a kilometers deep abyss.
”A siege could go on for months.” Palpatine stated the obvious.
It was probably what he was hoping for. That would mean that I'll be stuck here for that long. Too bad, that I had other plans to deal with it...
”My people have suffered greatly! Such a siege will be too much!” grumbled the senator.
”Plan, have you, General Veil?” asked Yoda.
”While the Capital is our primary target, we need to dispatch strong forces to liberate the Camps. From a single battalion, up to an entire Regiment will be needed depending on how powerful the garrisons are. Once I have sufficient men near the major camps, we'll attack them at the same time. Because of that, I won't have enough free troops to ȧssault the city while liberating the CIS held population. I intend to ask for help. It appears that despite their vicious attempts to suppress the resistance of the locals, the CIS has been unsuccessful. Cham Syndulla, leads the largest contingent of resistance fighters. I'll do my best to procure his ȧssistance.”
”He has the reputation of an extremist.” the Chancellor gave me a grandfatherly smile which would have made Dumbledore proud. ”He can be unpredictable.”
”I don't trust him!” shouted the senator. ”He is a power hungry maniac!”
”I'll leave Ryloth's politics in your capable hands, Senator. As per your orders, Chancellor, I'll do everything in my power to help the local population.”
”And why we are not sending additional reinforcements?” asked Palpatine.
”We are stretched to the limit, sir.” General Valentra joined the conversation. ”There is no one else to send.”
It was extremely fortunate that a squadron of Venators with escorts were already on the way, which would do a lot to shore up our space defenses. I didn't relish the possibility of the CIS sending in another fleet and blowing me out of orbit.
”It's unlikely that we would be able to achieve a timely victory without Syndulla.” I stated with a grim expression on my face.
”Something to add, have you, Master Kenobi?” asked Yoda.
Obi-Wan shook his head. ”No, Master Yoda.”
”Very well. Liberate Ryloth, General Veil.” ordered Palpatine before cutting the connection.
It was time to stretch my orders to their limits.
”Obi-Wan, if you decide to stay with us I have a job for you...”
=RK=
Part 2
Maximilian Veers watched the sensors display of his command tank like a hawk. The young officer was leading the vanguard of one of the armor columns braving the mountains. He was currently commanding a hover tank platoon, which was scouting ahead of the main force.
Above him, a pair of heavily armed gunships were lazily sweeping over the pass. Higher still, a couple of squadrons of fighters were flying CAP, on the lookout for any sign of CIS Vultures or bombers. Even in orbit, the ultimate high ground, a Venator, the Victory, was hanging vigilant, ready to provide ȧssistance if needed.
All that, didn't make the Lieutenant any less apprehensive. He was in a light tank, with only a shield generator for defense. One that maybe could take two shots before being overloaded.
You had to add to that the unpleasant fact that his hovercraft were no good for scaling vertical surfaces, such as the cliffs to the left, or flying, with the over two kilometers deep chasm on the right.
In front of his vehicle were two tanks of his command squad, both of which had their turrets sweeping from left to right in search of hostiles.
”Contact! You have enemy tanks and infantry activating to north east!” The voice of theVictory's sensor operator sounded from comms all along the armor column.
”Affirmative. We have them on our screens!” Confirmed the pilots of the gunships. ”We are engaging.”
”Lieutenant Veers! Push the vanguard forward and try to flush out any other surprises the Seps have for us.” Ordered General Veil, who was riding with a group of a quick response LAATs, which had two companies of troopers ready to deploy.
”Wilco, sir!” Answered the younger man. ”You heard, the General. We are moving out. I want five hundred meters separation between the platoon's elements.”
The hover tanks' engines roared and the light machines darted forward, following the contour of the pass.
=RK=
The gunships flew over the mountain's peaks and followed the siren song of the droids energy emissions. Those two LAATs were heavily armed with both missile and rocket pods as well as rapid-fire lasers mounted under their short wings.
The pair appeared over the CIS forces. The Separatists machines were getting out of shallow trenches, where they had waited deactivated for Republic forces to come in range.
The lead LAAT released a couple of missiles aimed at two tanks which had gotten out of their hiding holes and were heading into firing positions over the GAR column. The heavy weapons struck the CIS machines from above, drilling effortlessly through their lighter top armor and detonating. The top third of the two stricken tanks disappeared into a flash of detonating explosives, and the resulting shock-wave obliterated a few B2 droids which were too close.
That first successful strike was followed by the gunships unleashing the rest of their weaponry before they finished their attack pass. Missiles blew up three more tanks, while rockets and lances of energy smashed into groups of droids.
The initial success of the LAATs was short-lived. The next CIS machine to awake was an AA emplacement, which opened up on the gunships. They were already finishing their strafing run and were able to avoid its initial flak fire. The two missiles it sent after them were a different matter.
The Republic craft spread out, increasing their speed and turning so they could target the weapon which which went after their comrade. One of the LAAT's managed to shoot down the missile going after its wing mate, before it could connect with it. The fire of the second one missed by centimeters, twin stilettos of green energy passing below and above the CIS weapon.
The missile struck the gunship from the side destroying one engine and heavily damaging the other. The LAAT spun out of control and plowed in the rocky ground.
The second one flew straight down in an attempt to go below the engagement envelope of the AA emplacement. That maneuver, as it turned out was not needed. A missile sent from one of the CAP fighters erased the AA site out of existence. Moments later, six V-19's strafed the CIS position.
=RK=
Lieutenant Veers glared at a mountain hill which was on the other side of the pass they were crossing. It was a good news/bad news thing.
The kriffing CIS had a position defended by proton cannons and heavy AA emplacements, from where their tanks and infantry could take potshots at the advancing Republic column without being too concerned by air or orbital attacks. The second option was out anyway, if the General wanted to use this pass. But the heavy cannons ensured that a Corvette or a Light Cruiser couldn't pass over the place where the Seps had entrenched themselves and plaster them with its secondaries. Not without getting shot down in retaliation.
Which was a problem. The fleet couldn't afford to loose any more ships, even one of the lighter ones. Such a thing would compromise even further the tentative hold the Navy had over Ryloth. Not a single GAR member on the ground wanted to think what would happen if the CIS sent a heavy fleet to retake the orbitals.
That left the ground forces with a problem. Now they had to brave a gauntlet under enemy fire. It wasn't a fun place to be.
Two of the CIS tanks which had taken positions on the ridge overlooking the pass concentrated their fire on the leading part of Veers' platoon.
They missed.
Maximillian had never been more grateful to the Seps own bean-counters, who were too cheap to pay for a decent targeting sensors and programing for the droid ground forces.
”Press forward! We need to get out of the pass ASAP and flank them!” Ordered the Lieutenant.
”Yes, sir!” He heard his driver shouting back a second before the tank darted forward, at a reckless speed.
That was all Veers could do. The position where his platoon was didn't give him many options.
They couldn't maneuver, or go back. Staying put would be a death sentence for his light tanks, and worse, would achieve nothing.
The eleven hover tanks flew towards the end of the pass, while exchanging fire with the CIS forces. The only high point was that while the Seps were busy shooting at his shielded machines, they were not bombarding the ponderous walkers which were striding forth with unmatched determination.
=RK=
Eagle Flight, Lorek Pass, Torangua Mountains, Ryloth
A droid operated tank took careful aim and fired. A fist made of crimson energy splashed over the shield of Maximilian's leading tank. The defensive field flashed brightly as it struggled to absorb and reflect the energies unleashed upon it, before the light show ended.
The hover tank, which was still intact, rotated its turret and roared its defiance. Its lighter, but faster firing cannon spoke. Three green bolts flew back at the CIS lines.
One missed.
The rest found their mark.
A deep, smoking rend appeared in the front armor of the enemy tank and the secondary weapons on the right side of its cupola were slagged by a hit.
In retaliation, four more of the Confed machines zeroed on the leading hover tank and fired in unison.
The shield stopped the first hit.
The next pierced the depleted defensive barrier as if it was not even there. It sliced through the thin armor protecting the turret and unleashed what remained of its fury on the people manning the hover thank.
The machine's commander, who acted a gunner too, was turned into ash from the waist up. The driver lived a bit longer thanks to the compartmentalization of the tank doing its job.
That proved useless when the front of the armored vehicle was struck by another cannon shot, which blew a hole in the glacis and obliterated the man.
I turned my senses towards the higher ground where the CIS forces had taken position. Their AA emplacements were already sending streams of laser fire and flocks of missiles at my CAP, forcing the Torrents back.
The fighters answered with their own weapons, which were met by wall of blaster fire. Only a handful of missiles got through, with only one reaching its target.
The end result was an AA site blown up in exchange for a pair of V-19's. It wasn't a trade I could afford.
Then another hover tank went in flames under the relentless enemy barrage. And I was grateful for it. I would gladly accept them blowing up my entire vanguard, despite Veers leading it, because it meant that the kriffing clankers weren't shooting at the pass itself.
Granted, the whole exercise was a damn diversion, but I needed everyone seeing what they believed my forces were doing. It was probably my best chance to end the mess on Ryloth fast.
So I was leading three regiments into a meat grinder while Kenobi prepared to do his part.
That still left me do deal with the CIS forces on the damn hills overlooking the pass.
Oh, I got a plan how to do it. It was just that a bunch of gunships from Earth would have been ideal for dealing with this situation. Flying through the pass, under the enemy AA umbrella, then popping a sensor pod over the edge of the canyon, locking on the targets and sending missiles to deal with them.
It was too bad that thanks to the enemy ECM my own gunships were unable to do so. They needed a line of sight to fire and that was suicide against the massed AA emplacements.
No orbital strike, an air attack being too costly on my remaining ȧssets... And no kriffing indirect fire artillery! That was soon going to be climbing near the top of the list I needed the R&D to see. Few self propelled arty pieces would have done wonders against the entrenched CIS forces. Hell, few mortars would do nicely too.
Just another thing to add to the list.
That left us dealing with the enemy the old fashioned way. With grunts on the ground.
The quick reaction force flew through the canyon until the LAATs were in position, just two meters under the edge of the cliffs where the droids deployed. Below us and to the left, the leading elements of my walker force were coming into range
Their heavy mass drivers opened fire, carefully aiming so they won't smash one of my transports by accident. That at least kept the droids nicely distracted from our approach.
My men launched grappling hooks, and once the devices found purchase on the rocks above us, they started climbing up. Once they were just below the edge, the clones drew thermal detonators and Ion grenades with one hand, and threw them at the droids above us.
It was what I was waiting for. I had mental picture of the enemy forces seared into my head thanks to the Force, which I had used to search for their exact positions.
Streams of Ionic energy clashed with blast-waves and machines started dying. Squads of B2's as well as tanks and couple of AA emplacement went out in a flash of searing fire or few twitching on the ground with their circuits fused.
This brief surprise was all it took for the leading elements of my two companies to scale up the cliffs, discard the grappling hooks and scatter in search for cover. Aria and I joined them, jumping meters in the air from the LAATs carrying us. Our lightsabers were already active when we landed on the rough ground. We wasted no time and charged the enemy lines.
Behind us my armored column had ceased fire and was advancing up the pass.
I used my free hand to levitate grenades from my harness and sent them flying at various juicy targets, while blocking the ineffective fire from the droids.
I dreaded the day when those things would get their programing straight and start acting as the advanced war machines I remembered from my past. Against them the ȧssault I was leading would be magnitudes bloodier if successful at all.
To my right, my apprentice was following my example. Her excitement and joy was like a beacon for my senses.
I chuckled at her antics and threw a thermal detonator straight under the gun of a Sep tank, which was trying to acquire me as a target. The resulting explosion melted off most of the machine's armor around its turret and warped the cannon, making it useless.
I frowned, but didn't allow myself to stop in surprise. The damn weapon was faulty! It should have destroyed the tank, not simply crippling it. The damn thing still had its secondary weapons which were moving my way.
A missile slammed into the tank's weakened armor and blew it up.
The second wave were up here and engaging. They were exclusively carrying heavy weapons.
The third should be following us withing moments.
It was just in time, too. The CIS forces were finally straightening out their programming and were counterattacking. The droids which were acting as individuals when we surprised them were engaging us as a units, with B2s and tanks engaging us in well coordinated manner.
The local CIS commander had reestablished control. Joy.
I ducked under a cannon shot. The bolt of concentrated energy passed over my head, and I rolled over the rocky ground. A repeating blaster stitched a line of smoking craters where I was a second ago.
Aria drew the weapon's operator a B1 towards herself and sliced it in two without slowing down. Then she vaulted over a boulder and landed amidst a squad of Super Battle droids. Her blade danced around her armored body, leaving pieces of glowing metal in its wake.
My roll ended near an AA position. I threw my last thermal detonator into it, before making myself scarce.
A geyser of dirt and flames erupted behind me.
=RK=
Aria was grinning as she charged through the CIS lines. The Force sang in her ears, and the apprentice grabbed it and forced it to follow her directions.
She felt more powerful than ever, and more importantly, Aria felt in control. She was no longer just an ill taught pawn whose lot in life was to be used and discarded.
The Sith apprentice twisted the Force flowing through her veins and sent a bolt of lightning at a quartet of Super Battle droids. Their well polished armor shone under the onslaught, but did nothing to slow down the stream of energy that fried their internal components.
Four metal ssculptures fell to the ground, while Aria's attention was redirected to her next prey.
She ran at a speed which should have been impossible for a member of her species, avoiding the desperate fire from the secondaries of a CIS tank. Aria vaulted over the last ditch defensive fire of her target and landed on its side. Her glowing blade sliced through the weapons barrels, then she jumped down and rolled under the tank, which was suspended over the ground by its repulsors. She slammed her blade into the flat armor of the machine and started cutting a way through it.
That gave her few calm seconds to think.
The last couple of days were the best in her short life.
It was a radical shift from what she knew from her brief time with the people who had made her. For them, she was just a one use weapon, to be unleashed and forgotten about.
Her master was different.
Once he had finally found the time to give her, (and what was with all that boring waiting, anyway?!), he made her feel important. Unique. As if she actually mattered, and that was something she had trouble believing.
She was weapon with a single purpose. Or so she had been led to believe. For the ones who created her, she was just as disposable as the droids she was fighting now, or the clones were for the Republic. That had been something she had been able to sense even then, hours after being released from the cloning cylinder.
She had been alright with that. She had no reason for existing then. No purpose.
They gave her one and she had been grateful for that.
Now, Aria knew it for the lie it was. All of it.
Now, she was being trained to use the Force right. As a real Sith should, not like the Confed fools who ”trained” her for her one way mission.
She smiled wickedly as her lightsaber finished cutting through the tank's armor. Aria threw away the slab of metal barring her way as well as the droid crew of the tank, after taking them apart. She took a long look inside, and then she used the Force to manipulate the machine's controls.
As Aria took aim and opened fire on an AA emplacement, a content smile appeared on her face.
Her master's teaching were helping become her own person, not just a disposable copy.
Slowly but surely, the Force was setting her free!
=RK=
Part 3
200 km north-east of Lessu, Ryloth
Bo-Katan was flying over a rocky desert, riding a speeder bike, which she had ”borrowed” from the GAR forces. She had been contracted by the Republic general to find out the location of the local resistance leader, Cham Syndulla, who had his hideout somewhere in the desert surrounding the capital city.
The bleak brown landscape around the Mandalorian woman was littered with the burned out hulks of CIS landing ships, shattered droids and the burned out frames of vehicles used by the Ryloth's security forces, which had made a futile effort to stop the Confed army.
This was the region where the man she was seeking operated.
Thanks to her short time as a mercenary for the CIS, Bo knew where to start the search for her quarry.
She hid her ride into the twisted ruin of a crashed transport and patiently waited.
That in turn gave her some time to think about her situation.
Bo-Katan was in a bind. She simply couldn't refute that man's arguments. Because of her leader's orders, the Death Watch was liable to be painted in the same light as the CIS – as a bunch of slavers and common murderers. And many within the organization's ranks would revel in receiving such reputation.
Was that what the Mandalorians were seen as by everyone outside their culture?
What she believed in was that her people were honorable warriors, the best the galaxy has ever seen. That was what they should strive for once their thin veneer of pacifism was lifted.
Kryze sat on the warm sand partly burying the wreck she was using as cover and frowned. Bo had the nagging feeling that what she wanted for her people and the aims of the Death Watch might not be the same...
Then there was her loyalty to Vizsla...
It was one of the rare times she didn't know what to do...
=RK=
Republic Cruiser Requiem, Task Force ”Retribution” flagship, High Orbit over Ryloth
In one of the cavernous hangars of the Venator, Kenobi was attending a meeting, in which Veil's plan to resolve the situation on Ryloth was fleshed out.
”Who put that lunatic in charge?!” exclaimed Captain Trent Wombas, of the Escort Carrier Reprisal. He hated his ship's role in the madness that was being planned.
Solo, who, along with his Wookie first officer attended the meeting, shrugged at his colleague's antics.
”It may work.” said the Corellian.
”Rwaar!” the Wookie's below of approval echoed around the hangar.
”It's certainly an interesting idea,” mused Yularen. ”Under normal circumstances, I would say that even if it works as planned, it would be too expensive to attempt...” the Admiral trailed off and looked at the deck plating, and the planet far below them.
”The ship should hold,” Lieutenant Commander VCT-091 added his two credits.
”Should or will?” Yularen looked sharply at the Requiem's chief engineer.
”Those container ships are extraordinary tough for merchant vessels. However, they were not built in with determined attack by military weaponry in mind. It can survive a strike or two from proton cannon, especially when you consider that those craft are going on a one way mission,” answered Vector. ”If those shells don't strike something vital...” the engineer shrugged.
”What about passing through the theater shield over the Capital?” asked Kenobi.
The clone smirked.
”Usually it would be a no go. However if the shield configuration has not been changed, which is unlikely given the terrain at the site, it will work.”
”It better.” grumbled Obi-Wan.
The Jedi didn't fancy getting splattered over the city's shields, not to mention what would happen to the regiment of clones he would lead.
”It's done!” a too young voice shouted behind Kenobi.
He turned around and saw a young, grease covered boy no older than fourteen, exit from under a damaged bomber. Around the kid a pair of clones, wearing colors announcing them as engineers were busy removing a shredded engine.
”Good work, kid! Now give me that number six spanner.” said one of the men wearing Jango Fett's face.
”Right away, Fixer!” exclaimed the kid, who had a cheerful grin on his grime covered face.
”Since when do we have children fixing our ships?” asked the Jedi.
”Since the General found himself an apprentice who happens to be a genius with everything mechanical.” deadpanned Vector.
”Say, what?!” exclaimed Kenobi.
The Jedi shook his head in exasperation. The Chiss woman wasn't enough, was she? Veil appeared to be doing his best to push the Council buŧŧons.
Obi-Wan knew that the Jedi Masters wouldn't be thrilled to learn that Delkatar had taken second apprentice. The fact that the woman who led the attack on the Temple was not only under Veil's protection, but his student was bad enough, but this?!
They would believe that Delkatar was corrupting the kid, despite the fact that Kenobi was sensing no darkness from the boy... What kriffing mess...
=RK=
200 km from Lessu, Ryloth
Bo-Katan's musings were interrupted when a platoon consisting of B1 and Super Battle droids marched past her hiding place. From the machines chatter it became clear that they were searching for a missing patrol. Undoubtedly one that had ran afoul of the resistance fighters.
She smirked. Splendid. Those tin-cans would lead her straight to her quarry.
Kryze let them pass and stalked after the droids.
=RK=
Lorek Pass, Torangua Mountains, Ryloth
The thin mountain route, which was sneaking through the canyon behind me, ended amongst desert dunes strewing from here to the Capital and beyond. Veers' surviving tanks were moving out to screen the advance of the walker column, which was still a kilometer behind us.
After we dealt with the second CIS ambush, I had the transports of Eagle flight deposit a company of troopers and me, at the exit of the pass. There we took defensive positions until my main forces were clear of the bottleneck.
To my pleasant surprise, there were no more attacks while my men were braving the mountain passes. Within hours I would have three mechanized regiments loose in the desert. I hoped that they would be enough to sweep clean the way to the Capital.
It was at that time, when my comm came to life with signal relayed from one of the ship in orbit.
”Veil, I've got his location.” I heard Bo-Katan's pleasant voice. She continued speaking, giving me the coordinates of the resistance hideout as well as the best way to approach it in order to minimize the chance of detection.
”Splendid work. You earned yourself a bonus.” I told her cheerfully.
I cut orders to my soldiers to head towards the capital city at moderate speed, while dispatching scouts for ambushes in the desert, before I went to retrieve Aria, who was resting at a temporally Command post near the pass end. It was time to visit the locals.
=RK=
Resistance HQ, Location Classified, Ryloth
A flight of LAAT/i transported a platoon of my 11th Legion and me five kilometers from the crashed CIS landing ship, which the resistance was using as a headquarters.
It was a small enough force not to alarm the locals too much, while strong enough to give us a good fighting chance if they turned out to be hostile. Or so I hoped.
Few minutes after we landed and the transports flew back to the safety of my advancing regiments, Bo-Katan melted out of the brown sands surrounding us.
”Took you long enough!” she grumbled. ”What were you doing? Took the scenic route or something?”
I looked around us. Unless you consider endless sand dunes with a lot of burned out military equipment lying around a tourist attraction, we didn't do such a thing. In my opinion the fact that we were in a desert was more than enough to disqualify this region from my vacation list.
”That we did.” I deadpanned. ”Sand and scorching heat everywhere! We just couldn't miss seeing it all!”
She shook her head at me, but I could feel a tingle of amusement fighting with her irritation. Can't blame her. I would be in even a worse mood if I had to sulk around the desert for a day or so in a search for the bloody resistance.
”This way!” Bo-Katan waved us to follow her. ”Try not to move like a bunch of toy soldiers on a parade!” she added.
It was my men turn to grumble. They didn't appreciate being bad mouthed by what they believed to be an ordinary merc.
”Children, play nice. We have a job to do.” I said aloud.
Kryze glanced my way and muttered something too quiet for me to hear. Nothing flattering I bet.
It took us nearly two hours to sneak to the resistance hideout. It was slow but easy task, when I could sense their sentries from a long way off.
We were few about a hundred and fifty meters from the entrance to the hideout, which was through the busted landing bay doors of a CIS landing ship. I made a sign to my men to hold their position and waved to Bo-Katan to follow me.
I would have preferred to execute this exercise with at least couple of companies at hand and preferably few SF teams ready for action, but my transport units were tasked to capacity. All in the name of a deception I hoped would win me Ryloth with minimum casualties from my men.
I removed my helmet and walked towards the entrance. I could hear shouts of surprise and distress. The locals found out that their perimeter was breached without them noticing. The sentries we bypassed would have some pointed questions to answer, the unfortunate sods.
”Hi, there folks!” I waved at a pair of Twi'lek males who ran out of the wreck with blaster rifles pointed my way. ”I'm here to see General Syndulla. Be nice chaps and go fetch him.”
I said it all with nonchalant smile on my face. Bo-Katan, who was to my right, was starring at me. No doubt, she was wondering what the hell was I doing.
The men looked at me, then at each other and ran back in. I beamed at Kryze who was scowling at me under her helmet.
”I can't believe that worked!” she muttered. ”Lucky bastard...”
Dominating the minds of weak willed people had always been handy for the Force Adepts who knew how to do it.
Few minutes, and couple of squad of sentries, who had come near my men taken into custody, later, a tired looking, orange skinned Twi'lek came out. He was accompanied by twenty odd men and women, who were carrying a diverse ȧssortment of blasters.
They all looked worse for the wear. The group had a sense of exhaustation around them.
Syndulla looked at me with a stare I've seen before. On men and women who had seen too many horrors on the battlefield and were close to breaking.
I was well aware that all the resistance had managed to to is merely inconvenience the Seps, in their race to ship as many locals as possible to the slave markets controlled by the Hutts. The failure to do more than saving a few of his people, was taking its toll on the resistance fighters.
”You found us.” stated Syndulla. ”So the Republic finally deigns to notice our pleas?” he looked at the dunes around us, which were nested within deep shadows.
”General Syndulla.” I said aloud. ”I came here to make you an offer.”
”Is that so? The mighty army of the Republic ridding to the rescue. Or are you another bunch of overlords who come to place us under the yoke?!” he glared at me. ”Look around us! Thousands of my men lie buried on these plains! Do you know why, Republic?!”
I rolled my eyes. It wasn't the diplomatic thing to do, however I've never been particularly good when dealing with local resistance fighters. Especially those that were supposed to be on my side. I probably was biased, but in my experience, they usually were more trouble that they were worth. At least those on non-imperial worlds during the last war.
”I'm sure you'll enlighten us, General.” I managed to say it with neutral tone.
Huh. I think that the use of the Dark Side was effecting me a bit. Was I getting arrogant, or perhaps I was just biased against most people of this day and age...
”When the Droids came, we were alone. Unarmed. We were going to surrender, but they came with tanks and tried to ground us down or place a slave collars on our necks. Where was the Republic when we needed it?”he glared at me. ”Millions of my people were taken, and now you come?”
Yeah. He was right. During this war the Republic had failed the very reason it existed – providing security to its member worlds. When all was said and done, the economic benefits were always secondary. Or they were during my time. Then it at least the Republic worked, however badly.
Ironically, if it was not for the so called Sith Sidious, who arranged the creation of the GAR, it would be ripe for the taking. Hell, it was anyway. The army was already stretched to the breaking point. It will be months until Kamino could have enough clones ready so the line could be held with any certainty. Perhaps even longer until a the new recruits, which were enlisting by the freighter-load could be ready for battle.
Two things could stop the GAR's from collapsing in the next few months. Palpy's meddling with the CIS strategic planing, because of which the Confed armies had almost ran out of steam and will need to stop their major offensives for at least couple of months, and if everything went without further problems, Corellia's entrance in the war on our side.
All that would give me time to consolidate my power base and put few plans in motion. If I was able to wrap the mess on Ryloth soon, that is.
”You have a decision to make, General. You can let your grievances get the better of you and continue irritating the CIS while they enslave your people. At best. Or you can help me liberate them. The only reason more of your people are not shipped to the Hutts as we speak, is my fleet in orbit. The same fleet which paid a terrible price in blood and ships to kick the Separatists navy out of this star system!” I looked him in the eyes. ”I have a two hundred thousand strong army on the ground. Those men are the best chance your people have. What will it be, General Syndulla?”
=RK=
Lessu, Ryloth
Wat Tambor glared at the holo-image of Count Dooku. He had requested reinforcements, which were to break through the Republic Navy in orbit and allow him to save his skin.
”Denied!” snapped the Sith Lord.
”We are trapped on the ground! The Republic have parked a pair of cruisers overhead! I can't leave Ryloth!” protested Tambor.
”You lost a full fleet! In what should have been an ambush for the Republic forces!” fumed Dooku. ”Your stunt at Ryloth already cost us dearly! Minutes ago Corellia announced that they are joining the war! On the Republic side! After your strategic blunder, we no longer have the forces at hand to easily crush our enemies! Now instead of short victorious war, we are looking at one of attrition!” the Count's glare made Tambor shake in fear. ”You will start bombing all settlements in range of our forces on Ryloth! The Republic's victory there must be a hollow one!”Dooku took a deep breath.
”At the moment there are no forces to spare for your misguided adventure, Tambor. I will not weaken another front to save your worthless hide.”
The Sith Lord turned his head to the right, where a Tactical droid was holding a holoemitter in front of Tambor.
”Follow my orders.” growled the one handed man, before cutting the connection.
Far away from Ryloth, Dooku pondered his situation.
He had his ”hands” full. After his not brief enough visit to the Jedi Temple, he had to reestablish his power base within the Confederation.
The madness that Tambor had somehow hatched, would hound them for years to come. It was almost as bad as the fiasco on Coruscant.
He growled and strands of darkness whipped around him as Dark side fueled fury festered within his heart. Once he got his hand on the fools who had botched the Coruscant raid he would keep them screaming for a long time.
The only bright light in the end of the hyperspace tunnel was that thanks to the reinforcements the Republic was rushing to Ryloth, the CIS would be able to take control over few contested planets.
Back on Ryloth, Tambor stared at the Tactical Droid who refused to follow his orders. He looked at the heavens, where the Republic cruisers were waiting. The Emir thought about using the Lessu's population as bargaining chips to buy his freedom, but then remembered who was leading the enemy forces.
The cyborg felt like a trapped animal.
Part 4
5 km from Lessu, Ryloth
I was riding in a command walker with General Syndulla and a group of clone officers, who were helping me ”plan” the ȧssault of the Capital. We were even patched to Coruscant, so Senator Taff and by extension the Chancellor could be aware of our intentions.
That had resulted in an amusing verbal sparing match between the resistance leader and the politician who was supposed to represent Ryloth. Of course, it was all a giant deception, just in case Palpy was feeding the local Separatist forces real time intel on my plans.
Only my men in orbit and I were aware of the scope of the trick I was trying to pull off.
For everyone with actual combat experience or a bit of military sense, attacking the Capitalwith three mechanized regiments and few hundred locals as auxiliary would look like anexpensive suicide attempt. By my most conservative estimates, there were at least a hundred thousand droids defending the city.
More than enough to destroy my few regiments if I attacked them head on.
According to the intelligence I had, there were supposed to be only a quarter of that number in Lessu, but I didn't trust those numbers. That city was the most important place on the planet as far as the CIS was concerned. At least while Tambor, who had the droid army deactivation codes was there and in one piece.
My plan should work even if that bastard bought the farm, but in such a case, the casualties my men were going to suffer would be astronomical.
”We need to seize the plasma bridge. It's the only way to pass through the city shields without a prolonged siege.” said Syndulla.
He was looking at a tactical map representing the Capital. On it could be seen many angry red designation, each of which was showing known enemy positions. That didn't even include the anti-personnel turrets that lined the city walls. There were few hundred of those things.
Another problem was the proton cannons hidden in the city. They would cripple any ship overflying the city from anything lower than high orbit. Those weapons and the theater shield covering the capital made the CIS commanders within Lessu confident that they could hold for a long time. I planned to dissuade them from that notion.
”Let's hope that the Separatists believe that too.” I muttered.
The resistance leader gave me a sidelong glance.
The display in which the data from the sensor monitoring the surrounding airspace started beeping. Everyone's heads turned that way.
”So it begins.” I muttered.
=RK=
Escort Carrier Retaliation, 500 km from Lessu, Ryloth
On the bridge of the modified container ship, Jole Solo grinned like a maniac.
He was given command of the ship, after her previous skipper, a volunteer civilian had refused to execute what he saw as a suicide mission. The Corellian scoundrel jumped at the chance to take command of the carrier.
It was just too bad that he was about to wreck this one too.
In front of his craft, the last Escort Carrier in the Republic fleet over Ryloth was plunging through the atmosphere at a dangerous velocity. Its shields were glowing white in an attempt to disperse the heat generated by the reentry.
Soon enough that would be the least problem for that ship. Reprisal, was flying with only a pair of clones on her helm. They had volunteered for the task.
If those men were lucky, they might even make it to the special escape pod mounted next to the bridge.
Reprisal was flying as a shield for Retaliation, which carried two clone regiments led by General Kenobi.
The former container ships forced their way through the atmosphere fast enough to shred their shields into tatters. The twin craft's bows started glowing red from the molecules of air hitting their hull.
The Escort Craft roared through the heavens, on a course leading straight towards the capital. The droids monitoring for space borne threats noted the two descending ships, paused for few seconds when their databanks registered them as merchant vessels, before deciding that those things were a threat anyway.
Proton cannons raised from their hiding places, tracked their quickly approaching targets and opened fire.
Reprisal shook from near misses, while the enemy artillery zeroed in on the carrier. The craft, which was on its final flight disregarded the enemy fire and continued its doomed approach.
The following shots struck the bow of the ship, rending huge holes in its civilian grade hull.
The pilots put the engines in overdrive and sent the Escort Carrier straight at the city itself. They locked in the course on autopilotand ran toward the escape pod.
The clones reached the life boat and were just entering it when a proton shell struck the Reprisal in the exactly wrong place. The pod disappeared into a short lived storm of fire, which turned the two men into so much mincemeat.
Despite the loss of its pilots, the Escort Carrier continued on its path, tanking shot after shot. She rained behind, pieces of her fuselage, which were torn away by enemy fire, yet she continued doing her duty.
The ships course had been painstakingly calculated, so even if she was destroyed, her pieces would rain all over the shielded city, providing cover for her sister ship.
Two hundred kilometers over Lessu, Reprisal was hit one too many times and she blew up. Yet, most of her mass had too much momentum, and continued tumbling on the same vector.
Flaming pieces of the destroyed ship rained all over the shield protecting the capital. It was like a barrage of shooting stars, which intercepted the majority of the artillery fire aimed at the Retaliation.
The second carrier flew through the air in a shroud of flaming atmosphere. She appeared to veer off its headlong plunge at Lessu, before straightening her course under the deft hands of Jole.
”Hold on, girl!” chanted Solo.
Next to him, his friend shook his massive, furry head.
”Wraarw!” protested the Wookie, when Jole suddenly guided the refitted transport straight at the ground.
”No worries, buddy! I know what I'm doing!” answered the Corellian.
”Rawar!” grunted Traaw.
”What do you mean, that's what you're afraid of?!”
Retaliation struck the ground seven kilometers away from the city and skidded across the dunes. She left in her wake a deep gorge in both rock and sand. Her repulsors whɨnėd in protest, when Solo overloaded them in attempt to slow down the crash-landing ship.
”I know they aren't meant for this stuff! Trust me! They'll handle it!” shouted Jole.