Star Wars: From the Clone Wars to Starfaring Heroes

Chapter 165, Section 167 - The Militia Act

As promised by Raine, his fleet gained an additional engineer.

"Looks like our party's a bit late." Kavia Slen, standing to the left of Renne, facing the spare seat to the right of the small tower, commented, gazing at the spectacular view outside the window, "This is a true battleship cluster..."

Renn nodded silently, his gaze sweeping over the massive steel behemoths that moved slowly against the backdrop of the dark sky, their own shimmering navigation lights like stars among the stars.

He could understand the shock that Kavia was feeling at that moment.

Simply because he himself had experienced it.

It was a primal thrill when facing cosmic power.

His left hand gripped the reins of command, while his right hand bore the fate of millions of lives.

"Little Tower, retrieve the list of all ships in this system that have communication records with the 'Repulsion'," Raine ordered.

The tactical robot glanced at him with its optical sensors, silently conveying the message, "Are we really going to investigate this now?", but it still deftly pushed a muttering B1 robot aside and took over the control panel.

Less than fifteen minutes after the "Repel" reached its designated track berth, the small tower had already pushed the data to the display screen built into the Rennes seat.

He began scrolling through the lengthy list.

Nearly a thousand warships in orbit had communicated with the "Repeller".

He then submitted a request to inquire about his current order of battle affiliation.

At this moment, Raine witnessed firsthand the results of Tann's military reforms.

A series of complex codes appeared on the screen.

To avoid getting lost in this massive tree structure, he saved the data files for later research and also selected a concise summary report to ensure he wouldn't attend the meeting with an empty head.

First main fleet.

Commander: Admiral Coles.

Responsible for the new territorial war zone.

The current unit stationed in Yugoslavia is the 19th Mobile Fleet.

Commander: Major General Trilm.

Second main fleet.

Commander: Admiral Trench.

Responsible for the Peremian war zone.

Current unit stationed in Yugoslavia:

21st Vigilant Fleet.

Commander: Major General Melley.

28th Mobile Fleet.

Commander: Major General Bontri

That's Rennes's current fleet.

The 28th Mobile Fleet is now under his command.

"Xiao Ta, retrieve the detailed list of ships under the 28th Mobile Fleet."

"Retrieving... The list includes: thirty battleships, twenty-three battlecruisers, thirty-six cruisers, seventy-five destroyers, one hundred and fifty-one frigates, and five auxiliary ships," Little Tower reported meticulously. "Total number of ships: three hundred and twenty."

"Goldell, establish point-to-point encrypted communication with the 'Crown Prince'."

"The line is in place, sir."

"Is that General Greshad?" Renn asked tentatively.

"Admiral Bontri... I am deeply honored that you still remember me." The Kolmogoth's voice came through. "The 28th Mobile Fleet is now under your command."

"What are you doing here?" Renn asked, a hint of joy rising within him at the sight of an old friend. "Why didn't you return to the Peremian front?"

“This is all thanks to the Militia Act,” Diedrich replied. Rein could almost picture him shrugging on the other end of the communication. “During the summit, most of the peace-loving members of parliament were absent from the vote, and the Militia Act was passed by an overwhelming majority in the Senate. All active military assets must be registered with the Supreme Command, and each star system or sector government must also ‘contribute’ a portion of its armed forces to the Confederate Armed Forces. So, we’re all here.”

“Hmm…” Renn drawled, his gaze sweeping over the prominent “Peremian Theater” sign on the tactical screen again, “but the Second Main Fleet’s operational area is still in Peremian.”

“I’m afraid this falls into the category of ‘necessary knowledge’ and is classified,” Diedrich chuckled. “We met on the ‘Invincible,’ and you were the last commander to arrive.”

The "Invincible" is a "divine will" class interstellar dreadnought.

Stretching for two kilometers, the heavy hull is cast from robust Duonium alloy, and its imposing bow and sides are densely covered with more than two hundred torpedo tubes.

It was once the most feared presence in the Southern Theater of the Republic Fleet, the war-scarred flagship of Admiral Trench. Now it has been repainted and its armor plates replaced, its austere appearance almost reflecting the unwavering character of its commander.

Once upon a time, the "Repeller" was one of the ships under the command of this giant vessel.

Later, General Tann removed "Repel" from its service.

Fate seemed to be playing a cruel joke; Renn felt like he had come full circle and returned to where he started.

It's unclear whether this was a joke by the supreme commander or a subtle display of Admiral Trench's authority.

“Prepare a shuttle.” Raine walked around the back of the seat and grabbed the purple cloak draped over it. “Hal, come with me… Kavia, the ship is in your hands.”

“No problem, boss.” Kavia grinned, clearly preferring to stay on the bridge and admire the spectacular fleet view.

After a brief flight, Ryan's shuttle adjusted its attitude and slowly decelerated under the huge shadow of the "Invincible".

The dreadnought's hangar tractor beam precisely locked onto the shuttle.

The gyroscope stabilization system finely adjusted the shuttle's angle, and the traction beam steadily pulled it into the massive hangar. As it passed through the blue-glowing atmospheric barrier, the fuselage experienced only a very slight vibration.

With a low hum from the hydraulic system, the gangway descended, and the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the cabin instantly released a cloud of white condensed mist.

Two familiar figures were already waiting below the gangway.

Didier Grieshad and Vinok.

The first thing that caught Ryan's attention was the most tangible change brought about by the Confederate armed forces.

The two men wore brand-new Confederate naval rank insignia on their shoulders.

Both men's badges clearly bear the mark "Brigadier General".

Greshad caught Raine's gaze and winked slyly. "Thanks to the Militia Act."

It's as if this sentence explains everything.

To some extent, that is indeed the case.

It explains much of the new atmosphere within the armed forces today.

The Militia Act formally established the Confederate central military command over the armed forces of local star systems.

After the bill was passed, only officers like Ryan, who were originally part of the Confederate armed forces, were eligible for promotion or to retain their original ranks.

Diderich Greshad may still be an "Admiral" in the Commonwealth Joint Defense Fleet on his home planet Kolmex, but not in the Confederate naval system.

This system is clearly biased towards officers within the federal system, for obvious reasons, which naturally aroused dissatisfaction among others.

But this dissatisfaction seems to have been distributed relatively fairly among everyone.

From a certain perspective, this might be considered an effective management approach.

But for now, etiquette takes precedence.

Respect is the cornerstone of maintaining interpersonal relationships and official affairs.

Ryan strode up to the prominent yellow line on the deck that marked the official starting line for boarding the "Invincible" and stopped.

He turned to a nearby B1 robot dressed in a hangar deck officer's uniform.

"Requesting permission to board, sir?"

The robot seemed somewhat taken aback by the formal request, and returned a curt salute in a programmed manner, "Frontline granted, sir. Welcome aboard the 'Invincible'."

Ryan smiled and returned the greeting, then stepped across the symbolic boundary.

"What's the meeting agenda?" he asked quickly, walking briskly alongside the two brigadier generals toward the turbine elevator, ignoring their slightly surprised glances. "Where is the Supreme Commander?"

“She can’t be there in person,” Vinok replied, while entering the deck number of the briefing room on the elevator control panel.

"what reason?"

Diedrich raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't you be the one to tell us that? You were in Ondren at the time."

“The Senate subpoenaed her to a public hearing on the Coruscant attacks,” Vinok explained, as the elevator doors slid open silently. “She publicly expressed her doubts about Count Dooku on the holographic network. Subsequently, the Senate subpoenaed Count Dooku to another hearing to respond, and now this has turned into a full-blown political storm.”

“And here,” Diederich added with a wry smile as the three stepped into the elevator, “is an imminent military crisis. The Supreme Commander will still participate in the meeting and decision-making, but he will not be able to personally command the operation as she had hoped.”

"All right!"

Ryan shrugged and continued walking.

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(End of this chapter)