Star Wars: From the Clone Wars to Starfaring Heroes

Chapter 150, Section 152 - War Resumes
On the hills surrounding the Kira Fortress.

On the hill near the small monastery, Renn looked down and was met with a breathtaking view.

Kira Fortress sits majestically on the mountainside formed by three peaks, overlooking a valley covered by dense forests below.

On the stone walls of the fortress, thousands of tall, intricately carved arches radiate golden light. They are both huge windows and countless balconies extending outwards, layer upon layer, as if the entire mountain has been hollowed out and illuminated.

At the foot of the fortress, a dark torrent of steel relentlessly crashed against the fortress's impregnable foundation like a surging tide.

Each impact caused violent ripples in the energy shield, yet it remained completely unmoved.

Rein stood on the hill, the roar of heavy artillery echoing in his ears on the morning breeze.

The self-propelled siege artillery array continued to unleash its fury, with thousands of cannons spitting fire as they fiercely bombarded the fortress's incredibly thick energy shield, blasting blinding spots of light across its surface.

At the bottom of the valley, the scene was even more chaotic and tragic.

Tens of thousands of soldiers fought fiercely amidst the thick smoke billowing from the low-flying interstellar ships.

The turret hovered around the fortress, its turbine laser beams lashing the ground troops' positions like whips of death.

That mountain, that fortress, was not passively taking the hits.

It is coldly reciprocating with death and destruction.

The densely packed attacking crowd below became an excellent target, allowing defenders to inflict terrifying casualties with almost no precise aim.

Shells and laser beams rained down like a dense downpour, tearing and pulverizing rows of soldiers as easily as hammers and chisels were used on porcelain.

The hidden artillery positions on the hillside occasionally flashed with deadly light, and the scorching and continuous barrage plowed across the land, mixing the soil and blood into a deep red swamp that could wipe out an entire attacking battalion in an instant, forcing the remnants to flee back to the siege trenches in panic.

The sky was also a scene of chaotic slaughter.

The two enormous war beasts, Skrefmon and Lupinmon, tore and clawed at each other in the air, vying for every inch of altitude advantage.

The ripped carcasses of giant beasts, along with their screaming riders, kept falling from the sky. Even more tragic were the riders who were tightly entangled in the saddle ropes and fell to their deaths.

The Republic's 'Aurek-class' starfighters, with their high speed, swoop down from high altitudes and sweep the battlefield with laser cannons, making it difficult for enemy war beasts to catch a glimpse of them.

Occasionally, however, a Drexor beast kept by the Kira family would suddenly leap out from behind the walls, its barbed tail lashing out like a deadly viper.

It precisely pierced through an unsuspecting starfighter, slamming its twisted metal wreckage into the ground before swiftly retreating behind the protection of its energy shield.

Such scenes are not common.

Both sides regard Drexmon as a key trump card and will not use it lightly unless it is absolutely necessary.

The appearance of such a colossal beast is enough to instantly turn the tide of a local battle. Even powerful warships like the "Wrath of Amanoia" would cautiously keep their distance as soon as they detected signs of the Drexmon's arrival.

“At this rate, it’ll take at least a month to deplete those shields’ energy!” General Tandin complained irritably, his gleaming armor reflecting the blinding light of the gunfire. “Bounty, if only you could bring your warships over here…”

Raine didn’t want to respond, especially as the costly siege “solution” he was forced to devise was turning into a one-sided massacre.

The results of it?
Ondron's soldiers fell like mowing grass, the banners symbolizing noble honor burned and fell in the explosions, and the war beasts howled in agony and tore at each other, while the front line advanced only a negligible amount.

Commanding a space war is another matter entirely; watching warships explode silently in space from hundreds of kilometers away, casualty figures are nothing more than cold statistics.

Here, blood splattered right before your eyes, agonizing screams pierced your eardrums, and the stench of death rose from the trenches piled with corpses and from the vast pools of dark red, foul-smelling, congealed blood, a stench mixed with gunpowder and putrefying entrails, so intense it was suffocating.

Flies swarmed wildly over the remains of limbs and flesh left from yesterday that had not yet been cleaned up.

Sand, dust, blood... Few people can truly imagine how disgusting it would be to see them mixed together and smeared on the earth.

Renn has now seen, smelled, and felt it.

His stomach churned, and he fought off the urge to vomit.

“There’s a Republic’s diplomatic fleet parked on the tracks,” Raine said, his voice a little hoarse. “My warships can’t go anywhere. Believe me, if I could, my first thought would be to wipe this damn mountain off the map with its main guns.”

He tried calling Mishar again in vain, knowing there would be no response, which made him even more anxious.

General Tandin glanced at him sideways. "You need to have some confidence."

“I don’t like leaving any room for uncertainty,” Ryan told him curtly, “if she gets stuck in a place like this because of me…”

He waved helplessly at the devastating siege battlefield, his brow furrowing at the mere thought of Mishar possibly being in a similar predicament.

A thought lingered in his mind: "Things shouldn't have gotten this far."

A serious problem occurred at a certain stage or at a certain critical point.

He must find the trigger, otherwise he will only be able to watch such a disaster repeat itself time and time again.

"General!" A messenger rode a striped Dargo beast up into the camp, its hooves kicking up clouds of dust. "An army of the Dol-Del tribe has appeared on the eastern ridge!"

They were enemy reinforcements, intending to relieve the siege.

No one knows how many highland tribes have secretly sided with the Kira family, and they cannot simply wait for the other side to rally.

An army of hundreds of thousands might be marching towards them. By then, Fort Kira would have to have fallen.

If this cannot be won, this family feud, which has been carefully contained within the family, could very well escalate into a full-blown civil war that engulfs the entire Wengdelun.

The reason we can barely maintain a "low profile" at present is because only the Royal Army's regular troops have been mobilized.

If it becomes necessary to massively conscript the vassal armies loyal to the various nobles... then the secret will be completely exposed.

Perhaps it's not so much that a "cat" escaped, but more like a Prithar beast capable of smashing down houses and breaking out of its cage.

"We must take Kira Fortress tonight!" Tandin abruptly crossed his arms, his tone leaving no room for argument. "Order all troops to immediately withdraw to the rear of the hill defenses!"

"Retreat, sir?" the messenger uttered the word as if it carried deadly poison. "When did my army ever recruit soldiers with hearing problems?"

"Sorry, General! Execute immediately!"

The faded military flags were waved hastily, and the mournful bugle call of retreat echoed through the hills.

The soldiers who were originally engaged in a melee around the city walls and siege equipment began to struggle backward, like a tide being pushed back by a strong wind, and stumbled and retreated to the relatively safe trenches behind them.

It was as if they had been waiting for this moment.

A loud, piercing bugle call, so high-pitched it made the hairs on the back of Raine's neck stand on end, suddenly rang out from the direction of Kira Fortress!
With a tremendous roar, the heavy stone gates of the fortress burst open, and a torrent of heavily armored cavalry riding towering war beasts surged out like thunder from a burst dam, fiercely pursuing the retreating Royal Army soldiers.

They lowered and leveled their deadly lances, which gleamed with a cold light.

The Kira cavalry quickly spread out in a broad arc, and a wave of azure destruction rippled forward with their charge.

The Royal Army soldiers covering the rear fell in droves, as if swept by an invisible scythe.

General Tandin's lips curled into a cold, disdainful smile as he abruptly raised his hand.

The second bugle call sounded, sharp and urgent.

The initially chaotic retreat team instantly displayed astonishing discipline.

The well-trained soldiers quickly regrouped from their scattered state into near-perfect, dense formations.

The soldiers in the front row plunged the butts of their spears deep into the ground, the tips pointing diagonally forward, forming a forest of steel thorns.

The soldiers in the back row raised their powerful laser guns.

The entire movement was synchronized and precise, like that of a machine.

Kira's cavalry did not slow down.

The jog that made your bones tremble instantly turned into a frantic, reckless dash.

Taking advantage of the downhill momentum, like a desperate torrent, their hooves churning the blood-stained earth into even more filthy mud, they charged straight at the newly formed infantry square.

In response, the square formation of spears and laser guns began to advance slowly but steadily.

Two squares form a row, for a total of three rows. Experienced veterans run around the outside of the squares like sheepdogs to guide them and maintain the tightness of the formation.

In the blink of an eye, the cavalry torrent, carrying the aura of death, rushed in front of them, their eyes burning with bloodthirsty madness.

Two thousand laser guns simultaneously unleashed a deafening roar!

The blinding blue light instantly engulfed the entire valley.

Countless birds were startled and took flight in panic from all directions.

Thick white smoke, like a heavy fog, instantly enveloped the entire battle line.

The soldiers in the first rank who had finished firing immediately bent down to reload their ammunition, revealing the second rank of soldiers who were already waiting in battle behind them.

For a full thirty seconds, the entire valley was covered by a dazzling rain of laser fire poured down by both sides.

From where Raine was, far enough away from the blinding light, he could clearly see the brutal consequences of the steel collision.

The cavalrymen and their beasts at the forefront fell like bowling pins, as if struck by an invisible giant hammer.

The cracking sound of bones breaking and the groaning of twisted steel were drowned out by the greater noise. The fallen riders and their mounts were immediately trampled and crushed by their unstoppable companions.

The Royal Army's front-line formations also paid a heavy price.

Nearly half of the soldiers were either hit by lasers or knocked down by flying debris, their bodies leaning towards their comrades or collapsing to the ground.

Shields, spears, and laser guns fell from their hands and into the dust, and the soldiers fell down with them.

Immediately afterwards, the heavy cavalry armor and the bodies of the war beasts, carrying immense kinetic energy, crashed violently into the dense forest of spear tips.

There was no earth-shattering, loud impact as I had imagined.

The scene was more like... the charge of heavy cavalry melted into the square formation like wet paper, and then collapsed instantly.

Three rows of sharp spears, their tails deeply embedded in the ground, stubbornly withstood the first wave of attack, piercing the chests and abdomens and knees of the frenzied Dargo beasts, forcing them to stop and fall.

The following cavalry had to tighten their reins, trying to part or avoid the deadly forest of spears, and look for any gaps between the phalanxes.

Just then, a second, deadly volley of laser gun fire erupted!

Under the command of the veterans, the formation quickly changed shape, like the clenched teeth of a war beast, trapping the cavalry that charged into the formation.

At this moment, the immense momentum became a fatal burden. The Kira cavalry found themselves surrounded by dense infantry, unable to advance or retreat, and could only desperately face the Izzi spears thrusting from all directions.

The laser gun once again spewed flames at close range.

Ryan closed his eyes.

Screams, the mournful cries of war beasts, the grating sound of steel bending, the cracking sound of spears breaking... all these sounds intertwined to form a chilling symphony of death.

The remaining Kira cavalry were mired in a quagmire of dying comrades and chaotic mounts. Many were surrounded by heavy infantry, while others futilely charged at the wall of death constructed of flesh and steel.

Finally, the bugle call to retreat sounded again from the direction of the fortress, carrying with it endless sorrow.

The surviving cavalrymen turned around, abandoning the corpses and wailing comrades scattered on the ground, and fled in panic toward the open stone gate.

(End of this chapter)