Star Wars: From the Clone Wars to Starfaring Heroes

Chapter 151, Section 153 - No Other Choice
Inside Kira Fortress.

It's all that woman's fault!
So's face turned deathly pale as another thunderous barrage of heavy artillery fire slammed into the fortress's energy shield, the explosion's light turning the distorted shield a deep crimson.

The entire mountain trembled violently under the relentless bombardment of the Royal Army.

The flames in the fixed brazier flickered wildly, and the anxiety in people's eyes was hard to conceal.

The rocky dome overhead groaned under the weight, and fine dust and gravel fell in a flurry, crackling as they landed in the fire pit, settling on everyone's hair and shoulders.

After each devastating tremor, dust would rise and fall like fine snow.

The cycle repeats itself endlessly, seemingly without end.

Even with the fire pit for lighting, a thick, choking layer of smoke still filled the air.

As the billowing black smoke from the fire outside the city continued to rise, obscuring the sky, the light inside the fortress turned as if night had fallen.

"Shhh!" Hatch shouted with all his might amidst the deafening noise of the siege, his voice filled with panic, "This is completely different from our plan!"

The fierce battle seemed to be taking place in another world.

The Kira family arranged for them to have rooms on the east side of the fortress, backed by mountains, theoretically on the other side of the siege line.

However, there were no lines of fire in the sky.

The mountain fortress found itself in the eye of a storm of war beasts.

The Republic's and the Royal Air Forces, loyal to the Royal Family, darted in and out of the shield, relentlessly attacking the shield generators. Meanwhile, the Royal Army's massive laser battering rams emitted ominous, heavy thuds, shaking the structure of the main city gate with each impact.

The only thing that could make things worse is if the separatist alliance's warships appeared overhead and conducted orbital bombardment.

But for some reason, they did not appear.

So decided to count the meager bit of luck he had left, even though it wouldn't alleviate the immediate crisis in the slightest.

"How could we have known that the Royal Army had already detected the Kira family's rebellion!" So roared in a low voice, his fists clenched with anger and fear. "If we had known, we would never have gotten involved in this mess!"

"That's not what I meant!" Hachi suddenly reached out, his rough fingers gripping So's collar tightly, and pulled him roughly in front of him.

So could feel the other person's hot breath on his face, filled with anger and fear.

“I’m talking about siding with the Kira family! I kept quiet when you told us to follow that beast lord! But you need to understand, So! I’m not the only one in our group who’s following Stella because she wants to bring Dendup back! He is our rightful king!”

So felt as if hundreds of eyes were piercing his skin from behind, like barbed fishhooks.

The Kira family took them in, but that was all.

Now they were all crammed into this small room, covered in the sweat and mud from their escape, waiting for the Royal Army to breach the fortress and behead them...

Or worse, wait for the mountain to collapse under the bombardment and bury them alive.

The air was thick with dust, the smell of sweat, and a chilling despair.

He grabbed Hachi's wrist and dragged him forcefully to the only corner where he could avoid everyone's sight—the balcony.

Outside the balcony, the thin energy shield was so close it seemed almost within reach. Under the bombardment of dense artillery fire, it twisted and rolled violently, like boiling water.

The sharp whistling of shells and the muffled explosions resounded outside the shield; that distorted light membrane was the only barrier between them and the infernal inferno outside.

Su forced himself to count to five heartbeats before suppressing the urge to immediately retreat back into the house.

"I have to keep everyone alive!" So said in a low voice, his tone leaving no room for argument. "Kira Fortress is the only place that can provide shelter right now. It's sturdy enough to withstand artillery fire!"

“We have a nest!” Hatch exclaimed excitedly, shaking his shoulders so hard his nails almost dug into So’s flesh.

It took a lot of effort for Suo to resist the urge to instinctively shake off the other person.

"We could have continued running deeper into the highlands! Disappeared into those mountains before the Royal Army caught up with us! That's where our territory truly lies!"

"You don't understand!" So's voice rose sharply with frustration, drowning out the continuous roar outside. "The Royal Army has been chasing us relentlessly! They've known our every move all along!"

These words were like a bucket of cold water poured over Hachi's head.

He abruptly stopped shaking, his pale eyes widening as he blinked incredulously. "You...you're serious?"

“There’s a spy in the team,” So tried to keep his voice calm despite the booming cannons outside, “who sent all our messages back to Izzi.”

"How could this be?" Hatch's voice was barely audible, filled with shock and confusion. "How did you know?"

Stella and Dono invited her in!
So almost blurted it out, but he bit his tongue hard.

Hatch is right. Most of the people in the group follow Stella because they genuinely want the exiled Dendup to be reinstated.

And what about So?
To be honest, he didn't care.

He didn't care who it was, as long as the person sitting on the throne of Ondron was an Ondron person, and not a puppet of the separatist alliance or a marionette controlled by the Republic.

He knew perfectly well that everyone trusted and followed him simply because he was Stella's brother. So gritted his teeth, his gums aching.

They are all so insignificant, aren't they?
Dendup, Rush, Kira... their insignificant rebellion.

Compared to the vast, cold, and cruel Milky Way, we are as insignificant as a speck of dust.

During the "Golden Age" under Ramses Dendup, they naively believed they could forever ignore the storms of the galaxy and live peacefully in their undisturbed little corner.

But now, the storm has arrived; it has come knocking on our door and will not recede easily.

Even a seemingly powerful force like the Kira family is no match for a true galactic war machine; they are opponents who don't even need to mobilize their warships.

They are insignificant.

But this does not mean they have to surrender.

The battle itself is the meaning.

Moreover, So knew in his heart that these warriors were following the beliefs of his sister Stella, not him.

He couldn't let Stella lose everyone's trust just because she inadvertently let a spy infiltrate the team.

Those who stayed with them in that safe house were also unaware of the truth.

Only he knew.

“When the Beast Lord interrupted my interrogation, I stumbled upon her in the ruins.” So straightened his back, as if to add weight to his words. “She escaped, and then the Royal Army arrived.”

"Who is it!?" Hatch asked urgently, his eyes blazing with anger.

She kept her lips tightly shut and didn't say a word.

This silence was like adding fuel to the fire, instantly igniting Hachi's anger.

"So that's why you accepted the Beast Master's offer so quickly!?" Hatch demanded sharply, spitting almost onto So's face. "You didn't even ask us?! Just because you already knew we were exposed?! You sold us out to Kira!"

So took a deep breath; the air, thick with dust and gunpowder, stung his lungs.

He made his decision, his voice unusually clear: "No... I don't care who sits in that palace in Izzi, I only care about one thing: the Separatist Alliance and their puppets cannot sit there! Dendup or Kira, it makes no difference to me... But unlike Dendup's pitiful strength, Kira has guns, cannons, and this fortress! I saw an opportunity, an opportunity for us to survive and continue fighting, and I seized it!"

For a fleeting moment, the expression on Hachi's face twisted from extreme confusion into a furious rage of utter betrayal.

Immediately afterwards, the cold metal muzzle was pressed against So's stomach, and Hatch's finger was already on the trigger.

"Then your reasons for fighting us are completely different." Hachi's voice was hoarse with anger, and every word sounded like poison.

So did not resist.

He let Hachi's slap, filled with rage, land hard on his face, the burning pain spreading instantly.

He let Hatch shove him forcefully, staggering back to the center of the hall and crashing heavily onto the cold floor.

Stella's followers, their faces filled with confusion, doubt, and even fear, slowly gathered around.

Several people instinctively tried to rush over to help him, but Hachi immediately pointed his blaster angrily at them and shouted to stop them.

"Does Stella know what you're thinking?!" Hatch asked, pointing his gun at So on the ground, his voice trembling.

So spat out the blood and foam from his mouth and said with difficulty, "How could she know? If she... she's still alive, she'd definitely think we've safely reached the lair!"

"Stella trusted you! We all trusted you!" Hatch's roar drowned out the cannon fire outside, filled with heart-wrenching pain. "You betrayed us! You brought us into this damned iron coffin! Now we're all doomed! All because of you!"

Boom! ! !

A deafening explosion suddenly erupted, so powerful that for a moment, Suo thought it was the sound of his own heart exploding!
A wave of scorching heat suddenly rushed into the hall from the direction of the balcony, carrying the pungent smell of sulfur and burnt metal.

Immediately following was an extremely shrill scream.

The sound was sharp and distorted, filled with inhuman terror and pain, something no human could produce.

So could count on one hand the number of times he had heard that sound in his entire life, but he would never be mistaken.

Skref.

The deadly raptor on the moon, Dekunun.

The hall fell into a deathly silence; even breathing stopped, leaving only the echoes of gunfire and the chilling screams outside.

Everyone's eyes turned in horror toward the balcony.

“Now,” a familiar yet relaxed voice suddenly broke the suffocating fear, “I don’t think you’re all doomed.”

……

(End of this chapter)